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GT  CAUF.  LIBRARY,  LO8  ANGELES 


WHAT  IS  SAID    BY  THE   PRESS  OF 

Swirling  Waters 

By  MAX  RITTENBERG 

Author  of  "Every  Man  His  Price" 

"There  are  hidden  currents,  lurking  eddies,  tempestuous 
surges,  but  no  dead  calm  in  this  narrative  of  high  finance  and 
marital  infelicity."  Chicago  Tribune 

"The  story  is  very  well  constructed  and  furnishes  quite  a 
contrast  in  the  character  of  the  women,  as  well  as  some  decidedly 
sensational  episodes  in  the  contest  of  wits."  Rochester  Herald 

"Truly  there  are  some  exciting  financial  complexities  in  the 
story  .  .  .  the  plot  as  evolved  is  clever."  Chicago  Examiner 

"It  is  an  exciting  story,  for  the  stakes  are  high  and  the  two  men 
who  battle  are  strong.  It  is  told  in  an  intensely  dramatic  way 
and  the  action  is  swift  all  through."  Boston  Herald 

"An  entertaining  international  romance  of  high  finance 
through  which  runs  a  pure  love  story."  Sacramento  Union 

"A  gripping  story  .  .  .  convincingly  told  in  a  crisp  clean 
style."  Albany  Times-Union 

"Mr.  Rittenberg  writes  with  spirit  and  force,  the  striking 
denouement  of  the  plot  making  virile  appeal." 

Boston  Transcript 

"The  story  will  be  read  with  interest  by  those  who  like  vivid 
fiction."  James  L.  Ford  in  New  York  Herald 

"There  isn't  a  page  of  this  book  without  a  thrill." 

Philadelphia  Inquirer 
"A  distinctive  story  .  .  .  powerfully  written." 

Book  News  Monthly 


Cloth  Bound,  Illustrated. 


Popular  Edition,  50  cents 


G.  W.  DILLINGHAM  CO. 

PUBLISHERS  NEW  YORK 


EVERY  MAN   HIS 
PRICE 


BY 

MAX  RITTENBERG 

AUTHOR  OF  "  THE  MODERN  CHESTERFIELD,"  "  SWIRLING  WATERS,' 
"THE  MIND  READER,"  "THE  COCKATOO" 


G.  W.  DILLINGHAM   COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS  NEW  YORK 


COPYRIGHT.  1914,  BY 
G.  W.  DILLINGHAM  COMPANY . 


Every  Man  His  Price 


Press  of 

J.  J.  Little  &  Ives  Ca 
New  York 


To 

MY  FRIEND 
MRS.  ROY-BATTY 


CONTENTS 

BOOK  I.    TEMPTATION 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  "ENGLAND  MISTRESS  OF  THE  ETHER"  .      7 

II.     THE  ISLE  OF  SILENCE 16 

III.  A  WORLD-OLD  PROBLEM 24 

IV.  SEEDS  OF  SUSPICION 26 

V.    ATMOSPHERES 33 

VI.     THE  LONE  ORCHID 42 

VII.     SOCIAL  TACTICS 49 

VIII.  A  FATHER'S  RIGHTS  .......    57 

IX.  THE  DECLARATION  OF  WAR    ....    64 

X.     THE  HOODED  SKATER 79 

XI.     COUNTING  THE  SECONDS 85 

XII.    A  LOVER'S  PARTING 95 

XIII.  THREE  MONTHS  APART 102 

XIV.  AN  APPROACH  TO  PARADINE  ....  108 
XV.    THE  TOAST 120 

XVI.    GATHERING  STORM 134 

XVII.     THE  BIG  TEMPTATION 146 

XVIII.    THE  TURNING-POINT 154 

XIX.    BOATS  BURNED 158 

5 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 


BOOK  II.    CAREER 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    FIVE  YEARS  ON 163 

II.     A  DEATH-BED  TRUST 171 

III.  THE  FIGHT  FOR  CONTROL 177 

IV.  AFTERMATH       189 

V.    GROWING  ENMITY 192 

VI.    AT  LOUVAULX 199 

VII.  A  POLITICIAN'S  VIEWPOINT  ....  208 

VIII.    A  BUBBLE  OF  ROMANCE 220 

IX.    THE  MODERN  BAGDAD 224 

X.    WEAVING  IN  MILLIONS 233 

XL    SELF-ANALYSIS 242 

XII.    SPARK  AND  EXPLOSION 249 

XIII.    CULMINATION 262 

BOOK  III.    PAYMENT 

I.  BETRAYAL  OR  TEMPTATION  ?    .    .    .    .  273 

II.    EVE'S  DECISION 280 

III.  OVERSTRAINED  NERVES 292 

IV.  THRUST  AND  COUNTER-THRUST  .    .    .  299 
V.    THE  LAST  PLEADING 307 

VI.    FORWARD! 314 


Every  Man  His   Price 


BOOK  I.     TEMPTATION 

CHAPTER   I 
"ENGLAND  MISTRESS  OF  THE  ETHER" 

YOU'RE  a  spendthrift,"  said  Sir  Wilmer 
Paradine,  passing  the  alcohol-flame  for  his 
guest's  cigar. 

Warde  laughed  the  easy  laugh  of  one  who  has 
been  dined  and  wined  with  an  exact  nicety  of 
epicurean  perfection. 

"A  spendthrift  on  my  income!" 

"Of  brains,"  added  the  host,  with  a  clean-cut  de- 
cision that  told  he  was  attempting  no  form  of  after- 
dinner  jocoseness. 

Warde  straightened  himself  a  little  in  his  chair. 

"Why?"  he  demanded. 

When  a  man  of  the  financial  eminence  of  Sir 
Wilmer  Paradine  deliberately  cultivates  the  acquain- 
tance of  a  youngster  like  Hilary  Warde,  of  no 
financial  position  worth  recording,  an  unusual  mo- 
tive may  safely  be  deduced  by  the  onlooker.  Sir 
Wilmer  had  met  him  for  a  few  months  previously  at 
Lord  Merenthorpe's  country  house,  and  when  back 

7 


8 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

in  London  had  pursued  the  acquaintanceship,  cul- 
minating in  this  specially  arranged  dinner  a  deux 
in  his  bachelor  flat  near  Regent's  Park. 

Sir  Wilmer  was  a  remarkably  able  man,  and 
looked  it.  Though  nearly  sixty,  he  had  the  car- 
riage of  thirty,  a  healthily  fresh  color,  and  the 
elastic  step  of  youth.  His  perfectly  white  hair  was 
abundant,  and  gave  no  suggestion  of  senility.  Chin, 
eye,  voice — all  told  of  a  born  leader.  His  profes- 
sion was  that  of  company-director;  his  specialty, 
the  diplomatic  handling  of  men.  At  the  present 
moment  he  had  a  very  delicate  task  in  hand,  need- 
ing all  his  peculiar  talent.  By  way  of  oiling  the 
wheels,  he  had  provided  for  Warde  a  dinner  that 
was  luxurious  without  being  ostentatious,  and  a 
wine-list  that  was  mellowing  without  being  stupe- 
fying. The  young  fellow  was  exactly  in  the  physi- 
cal state  to  be  most  easily  molded  in  mind. 

"In  answering  your  question,"  said  Paradine, 
"I'm  going  to  make  a  few  very  personal  inquiries. 
You're  twenty-eight,  aren't  you?" 

"Twenty-seven." 

"I  know  your  record.  Scholar  of  Trinity;  ist 
Class,  Nat.  Sci.  Trip.,  Part  I;  ist  Class,  Part  II; 
honors  at  Chalottenburg ;  excellent  research  work; 
refused  a  fellowship  at  Trinity;  specialized  in  wire- 
less telephony;  confidential  man  with  the  Burgrave 
Co.  What's  your  salary  ?" 

The  question  was  put  in  such  a  fatherly  way  that 
Warde  could  not  take  offense  at  it. 

"Six  hundred,"  he  admitted  frankly.  "Six  hun- 
dred and  prospects." 

"Spendthrift!"  chided  Sir  Wilmer.    "With  your 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 9 

brains,  you  ought  to  be  commanding  double  or 
treble  that." 

"And  prospects,"  repeated  Warde.  There  seemed 
to  be  no  call  for  undue  modesty.  "My  firm  has 
a  splendid  future  before  it.  Wireless  telephony 
will  blanket  the  earth  in  ten  years'  time.  Just  now 
it's  only  in  its  infancy.  We're  pioneers.  We're 
making  history.  We  hold  the  inner  secrets." 

"I  know  Burgrave,"  answered  Paradine.  "Pos- 
sibly I  know  him  better  than  you  do."  He  paused 
significantly  on  that. 

"Well?"  asked  Warde  noncommittally. 
"You  ought  to  learn  how  he  is  regarded  outside 
his  own  firm.    On  that  man  depends  what  you  call 
your  'prospects.'     Has  he  offered  you  a  partner- 
ship?" 

"Not  definitely." 

"So  I  judged."  Sir  Wilmer  sipped  sparingly  at 
his  kiimmel.  "To  be  merely  an  employee  is  a  pre- 
carious game.  The  best  years  of  your  life,  the 
best  energies  of  your  brain,  go  to  building  up  for 
the  employer.  He  may  be  liberal  enough  to  recog- 
nize it ;  he  may  not." 

"The  chief  has  a  better  reputation  inside  the 
firm  than  you  imply  of  him  outside,"  was  Warde's 
comment. 

"I  don't  doubt  it.  What  I'm  telling  you  is  by 
way  of  warning.  Naturally  you  yourself  are  the 
best  judge  of  how  you  stand  with  the  firm.  But 
you  ought  to  know  that  Burgrave's  reputation  out- 
side is  that  of  a  man  who  would  string  on  a  valuable 
employee  with  vague  promises,  use  him  until  he  be- 
gins to  realize  his  own  value,  and  then  start  a  quar- 


10 


rel.    If  the  other  man  has  any  spirit,  he's  forced  to 
resign." 

"Go  on,"  said  Warde,  still  noncommittal. 

Paradine  leaned  forward  over  the  polished  ma- 
hogany, and  his  words  came  from  him  in  deliber- 
ately measured  doses,  with  deliberate  pauses 
between  each  step  in  the  argument.  "Further, 
Burgrave  is  not  dependent  on  the  success  of  wire- 
less telephony.  His  stand-by  is  the  general  manu- 
facture of  electrical  apparatus;  the  other  is  a  side 
line.  You  say  that  you  are  pioneers.  Long  before 
your  ten  years,  Burgrave  may  have  tired  of  the  ex- 
pensive game  of  being  a  pioneer.  In  my  opinion, 
not  only  may,  but  will.  It  wants  a  big  man  to 
blanket  the  earth.  Is  Burgrave  big  enough?" 

That  was  a  point  of  view  that  Warde  had  not 
previously  considered.  Enthusiastic  over  his  work, 
which  combined  scientific  research  with  practical 
possibilities  in  a  way  which  exactly  appealed  to  his 
temperament,  he  had  taken  it  for  granted  that  his 
firm  would  be  equally  enthusiastic  and  confident 
of  ultimate  results.  He  had  not  troubled  his  head 
about  the  financial  end. 

Paradine  continued :  "You  dream  of  a  world 
monopoly,  don't  you?" 

"Yes,"  answered  Warde,  and  his  mobile,  clean- 
cut  features  lit  up  with  the  fire  of  his  inner  en- 
thusiasm. "I  don't  want  it  only  for  myself  or  my 
firm.  That  would  be  a  poor  ambition.  I  want  it 
for  England.  I  want  to  see  England  mistress  of 
the  ether !" 

"Fine!"  said  Paradine  cordially.     "You're  the 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 11 

man  I  judged  you  to  be.  England  mistress  of  the 
ether — that's  a  statesman's  ambition." 

Warde  continued  rapidly:  "There  are  experi- 
menters all  over  the  world  working  at  the  practical 
problems  of  wireless  telephony.  It's  excessively 
complex.  I  know  we've  got  a  long  start.  The  first 
essential  is  to  get  the  right  theoretical  basis — to 
choose  the  right  one  out  of  a  hundred  possible 
paths.  I  believe  we've  chosen  right,  and  that's  why 
I'm  so  confident  of  the  future." 

"That's  the  scientific  end.  Have  you  also  reck- 
oned on  the  financial  end?" 

"No,"  admitted  Warde  frankly. 

"It's  equally  important.  I  don't  say  more  im- 
portant— I  say  equally  important.  To  establish  a 
world  monopoly  wants  big  money  and  capable 
financing.  It  means  freezing  out  rivals  in  the  bud- 
ding stage.  Take  as  an  instance  the  establishment 
of  cable  communication.  It's  open  to  anyone  to 
lay  a  cable  through  the  ocean,  but  the  firm  that 
gets  there  first  and  establishes  itself  on  a  commer- 
cial basis,  with  good  reserves  of  capital,  is  perfectly 
able  to  hold  its  own  monopoly  against  would-be 
cable  rivals.  All  it  has  to  fear  is  some  entirely  new 
method  of  communication,  such  as  your  wireless 
telephony.  In  the  same  way,  the  firm  that  first  gets 
wireless  telephony  on  a  commercial  basis,  with  good 
resources  of  capital,  will  be  able  to  hold  the  ether 
against  all  comers  with  similar  systems." 

"I  agree." 

"Is  Burgrave  big  enough?"  repeated  Paradine 
softly. 


12 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Warde  tipped  off  the  long  white  ash  of  his  cigar 
thoughtfully. 

"Do  you  want  to  finance  our  firm?"  he  asked. 

The  moment  had  come  for  which  Sir  Wilmer 
had  been  so  carefully  preparing  the  ground. 

"No,"  he  stated  deliberately. 

"Then  why ?" 

"No.  I  shouldn't  care  to  work  with  Burgrave. 
He  is  too  opinionated,  too  set,  too  much  inclined 
to  see  the  small  end.  Burgrave  hasn't  the  breadth 
of  thought  and  the  nerve  to  establish  a  world 
monopoly.  In  the  long  run,  I  believe  he  will  grossly 
disappoint  you." 

"Then  what  is  your  suggestion?" 

"To  finance  you." 

"How?" 

"Leave  Burgrave.  Bring  your  brains  to  a  more 
lucrative  field.  Hold  a  directorship  in  the  company 
I  propose  to  form.  I'll  give  you  a  sufficient  share 
interest  to  make  you  one  day  a  financial  power  as 
well  as  a  great  scientist." 

Warde  was  being  led  up  to  a  high  mountain  and 
dazzled  with  the  temporal  glories  of  the  earth. 

"But  you  don't  realize  perhaps  what  my  position 
is  with  the  firm.  I've  been  given  the  run  of  the 
confidential  results.  Not  I  alone  have  been  work- 
ing at  this  problem  of  wireless  telephony.  I  hold 
information  that  belongs  to  the  firm.  I'm  morally 
bound  not  to  carry  it  elsewhere.  I'm  in  a  position 
of  trust." 

"At  a  mere  six  hundred  a  year,"  reminded  Para- 
dine.  "And  no  definite  binding  promise  of  partici- 
pation in  results." 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 13 

"Naturally  I've  had  to  rely  on  the  chief's  sense 
of  fairness." 

"Shifting  sands  to  build  on." 

"He's  trusted  me." 

"A  little  trust  to  win  a  big  trust." 

"If  I  were  to  leave  him  now,  at  this  critical 
experimental  stage,  and  take  all  my  information 
elsewhere,  I  should  be  playing  it  very  low  down," 
answered  the  young  fellow  warmly. 

"In  this  world  of  mixed  principles,  you  have  to 
study  yourself." 

"I  don't  want  to  mix  my  principles.  As  I  see 
the  matter,  it's  plain  and  straightforward.  Bur- 
grave  has  engaged  me  at  a  fair  salary  to  carry  out 
confidential  work.  I  have  no  particular  grievance 
against  him.  He  may  be  opinionated,  as  you  say, 
and  possibly  somewhat  narrow  in  his  outlook.  It 
may  be,  as  you  say,  that  I  ought  to  press  him  for 
a  definite  promise  as  to  my  future  prospects.  But 
deliberately  to  leave  him  and  take  away  what 
doesn't  belong  to  me !" 

Warde's  sincerity  was  unmistakable.  Sir  Wilmer 
veered  to  another  tack : 

"A  few  minutes  ago,  you  told  me  that  your  am- 
bition was  a  bigger  one  than  ambition  for  yourself 
or  your  firm?" 

"Yes." 

"Then  fix  your  mind  on  it.  Run  in  blinkers. 
Put  aside  lesser  considerations.  If  England  is  to 
become  mistress  of  the  ether,  as  you  dream,  it  won't 
be  via  Burgrave.  Presently  he  will  jib  at  the  ex- 
pense of  pioneering.  He  will  try  to  economize. 
Other  rivals  will  get  ahead — Germany,  the  States, 


14 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Russia,  Italy,  France.  They  will  crush  you  by 
weight  of  capital.  You  will  perhaps  appeal  to  the 
British  Government  for  a  subsidy.  The  Govern- 
ment will  procrastinate.  You've  seen  what's  hap- 
pened with  aeroplanes." 

"They'll  learn  from  that." 

"No — politicians  learn*  nothing  but  party-craft. 
As  it  was  with  theJaeroplane,  so  will  it  be  with  wire- 
less telephony,  unless — unless  you're  big  enough, 
you  personally,  to  play  this  game  on  a  world  scale !" 

"I'm  morally  bound  to  stand  by  the  firm." 

"Consider  Rhodes'  career.  He  allowed  no  petty 
scruples  to  tangle  him.  Rhodes  had  the  big  out- 
look. He  saw  imperially.  He  went  straight  ahead 
on  the  course  he  had  planned,  regardless  of  the 
minor  principles.  Rhodes  worked  for  the  Empire, 
and  he  had  no  use  for  those  who  were  not  with 
him  heart  and  soul." 

"I  don't  agree.  Rhodes  was  not  asked  to  betray 
a  trust." 

"I'm  taking  the  nearest  analogy." 

"All  analogies  are  imperfect." 

"I'm  taking  the  nearest  analogy.  Consider  what 
I  offer  you.  Independence.  A  wide  field  for  your 
brains.  A  future  position  of  power  and  influence. 
Work  that's  right  in  line  with  your  biggest  ambi- 
tion." 

"I  can't  accept.  It's  a  matter  of  sheer  self- 
respect,"  retorted  Warde  with  a  ring  in  his  voice 
that  made  Paradine  shrewdly  veer  from  his  course. 

"I  don't  ask  you  to  accept  at  this  very  moment," 
he  answered.  "Think  over  the  situation.  Look 
at  it  from  all  angles.  Study  Burgrave  and  form 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  15 

your  own  mature  judgment  of  him.  Try  to  realize 
the  importance  of  proper  financing  to  the  future  of 
wireless  telephony.  Think  over  the  matter  in  your 
own  good  time.  Then  come  and  tell  me  your  final 
decision. 

"Shall  we  go  to  the  billiard-room  and  measure 
up  our  skill?"  added  Sir  Wilmer,  knowing  that 
it  was  the  psychological  moment  to  switch  discus- 
sion. 

"Right,"  said  Warde,  glad  of  relief  from  the 
surge  of  argument. 


THE  ISLE  OF  SILENCE 

Saltness  Island,  three  miles  long  by  a  mile  wide 
at  its  broadest,  is  probably  known  only  to  the  crews 
of  the  East  Coast  tramp  vessels  and  to  yachtsmen. 
It  does  not  figure  in  the  census  returns,  because  its 
only  permanent  inhabitants  are  sheep.  Except  for 
a  slight  rise  or  knoll  at  each  end,  it  is  flat,  treeless, 
lush-green  sea-marsh — a  "salting"  in  the  local  ver- 
nacular. It  is  separated  from  the  mainland  by  a 
tidal  stream. 

On  the  one  knoll  are  the  sheep-pens  and  a  rough 
stone  hut  for  the  shepherd  when  he  elects  to  pass 
the  night  in  the  lonely  island.  On  the  other  knoll, 
James  Burgrave  had  erected  a  galvanized  iron  bun- 
galow for  experimental  purposes — a  station  for  the 
exchange  of  wireless  messages  to  and  from  his 
works  in  the  East  of  London,  roughly  fifty  miles 
away. 

The  island  had  many  advantages  for  the  purpose. 
It  was  essentially  quiet  and  secluded — there  were 
no  prying  eyes  around,  the  only  means  of  access 
was  by  small  boat,  and  any  stranger  could  be  asked 
to  account  for  his  presence  there.  The  shepherd 
was  a  negligible  quantity.  Further,  its  position  on 
the  edge  of  the  sea  was  useful  for  experimenting, 

16 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 17 

because  Warde  had  already  discovered  that  his  sys- 
tem of  wireless  telephony  was  greatly  affected  by 
the  presence  of  stretches  of  water,  and  since  future 
communication  would  be  over  oceans  as  well  as  con- 
tinents, it  was  very  necessary  to  study  and  account 
for  the  puzzling  "water  effect." 

On  a  Sunday  morning  in  early  May,  a  month 
after  his  interview  with  Paradine,  Warde  was  en- 
joying an  after-breakfast  pipe  on  the  veranda  of 
the  bungalow.  In  the  rear,  Amos  Bills,  the  shep- 
herd, was  stolidly  engaged  in  the  process  of  wash- 
ing up,  pleased  at  being  able  to  augment  his  income 
by  doubling  the  role  of  housemaid.  Warde,  after 
a  few  memorable  trials  of  Bills'  quality  as  cook,  had 
preferred  to  keep  the  cuisine  in  his  own  hands,  rely- 
ing chiefly  on  tinned,  bottled  and  packet  goods. 

It  was  a  glorious  May  morning,  sparkling  with 
sunlight,  zipped  with  the  tang  of  the  sea.  The 
sheep  were  star-strewn  over  the  salting,  nibbling 
greedily  and  ever  pressing  onward  to  the  lure  of 
apparently  lusher  grass  a  few  feet  beyond  their 
noses.  A  sheep-dog,  lying  with  his  head  between 
paws,  surveyed  the  nearer  sheep  with  a  look  of 
blase  superiority.  On  the  Essex  flats,  clumps  of 
trees,  eagerly  uncurling  their  foliage  to  the  kisses 
of  the  sun,  stood  out  in  bold  relief,  sheltering 
proudly  a  dull-red  group  of  farm  buildings,  dull 
with  age  and  weariness,  unresponsive  to  the  birth- 
time  of  the  year.  A  barge  with  close-hauled  red 
brown  sails  essayed  the  narrow  passage  between 
Saltness  and  the  mainland — a  short  cut  on  its  voy- 
age of  commerce — tacking  cautiously  and  frequent- 
ly in  order  to  avoid  the  brown  mud-banks.  A  yacht 


18  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

slivered  through  the  calm  sea  a  mile  or  two  off  the 
island. 

Warde  was  dressed  in  an  easy  Norfolk  suit  of 
gray  tweed.  He  was  the  type  of  man  who  belongs 
to  a  Norfolk  suit.  By  his  side  on  a  small  table  was 
a  sheaf  of  scribbling  paper. 

He  drew  up  his  chair  to  the  table  and  set  to  work 
on  a  renewed  mathematical  search  for  the  raison 
d'etre  of  that  puzzling  "water  effect."  Completely 
absorbed  by  his  analysis,  he  would  have  been  oblivi- 
ous to  the  descent  of  an  invading  fleet  on  the  shores 
of  Saltness ;  still  more  so  to  the  arrival  of  a  yacht, 
the  transference  into  a  dinghy  of  a  yacht  party  and 
their  landing  on  the  sands.  When  he  looked  up 
from  his  figured  sheets  of  scribbling  paper,  the 
party  were  invading  the  veranda  of  his  bungalow. 

"  'Morning,  Diogenes !"  drawled  a  tall  young  fel- 
low of  twenty-four,  whose  blue  serge  yachting  cos- 
tume fitted  him  like  a  fashion-plate.  This  was  the 
Hon.  Ralph  Merenthorpe,  only  son  and  heir  to  the 
Merenthorpe  title  and  estates,  nominally  engaged  on 
the  duties  of  a  crack  cavalry  regiment,  but  more 
seriously  occupied  with  the  problems  of  raising 
enough  money  to  keep  step  with  his  spending  pace. 
His  name  is  carefully  to  be  pronounced  as  "Rafe." 

Behind  him  came  his  three  younger  sisters — 
Viola,  Eve  and  Beatrice,  the  last  in  the  flapper 
stage  of  feminine  development — and  a  man  of  about 
fifty-two  who  was  a  stranger  to  Warde. 

"  'Morning,  pirates !"  greeted  Warde,  rising  to 
shake  hands.  "What's  my  ransom?" 

"Your  secrets  or  your  life,"  chipped  in  Beatrice, 
unashamedly  nosing  into  his  papers. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  19 

"This  is  Lord  Esk,"  introduced  Viola,  who  had 
the  Merenthorpe  height  and  looked  a  society  hostess 
in  embryo. 

"Otherwise  known  as  Frankie,"  added  the  tom- 
boy. 

Francis  Crichton  Jerningham,  Marquis  of  Esk 
and  Earl  of  Lidderdale,  shook  hands  with  the  ex- 
actly right  graciousness  of  his  position.  He  was 
a  prematurely  old  man  carefully  affecting  youth — 
a  widower  and  the  owner  of  a  fair  slice  of  London. 
The  yacht  was  his. 

Warde's  warmest  handshake  was  for  Eve,  beau- 
tiful with  youth  and  health  and  unaffectedness, 
charming  in  the  simplicity  of  white  jersey  and  plain 
serge  skirt  and  shoes  that  were  frankly  for  comfort. 

"I  surrender  at  discretion,"  said  Warde  to  his 
captors.  "What  are  the  orders  of  the  Captain  Kidd 
Company  ?" 

"Let's  have  a  look  at  the  brand  of  your  whiskey," 
suggested  Ralph,  posting  himself  on  the  railing  of 
the  veranda. 

"Send  a  wireless  to  London,"  ordered  Beatrice. 
"Saltness.  Ten  o'clock.  Ship  by  fast  motor  one 
case  early  strawberries,  one  gallon  cream,  twelve 
pounds  chocolates.  Disregard  speed  limit.  Hurry 
like  B." 

"Aye,  aye,  captain,"  smiled  Warde.  "But  this 
is  Sunday.  There'll  be  no  one  at  the  London  end." 

"We'd  like  to  see  how  your  system  works,"  said 
Viola.  "If  it's  not  breaking  confidences." 

"I  can  do  this,"  suggested  Warde.  "Give  you 
a  portable  receiver  to  take  to  the  other  end  of  the 
island,  and  then  transmit  messages  from  here.  You 


20 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

won't  be  able  to  return  them,  but  you  can  flag-wag 
to  let  us  know  at  this  end  if  you  receive  and  under- 
stand them." 

That  met  with  instant  approval.  They  fixed  on  a 
simple  code  of  flag-signalling,  arranged  an  extem- 
pore flag,  and  divided  into  two  parties.  Ralph, 
who  found  walking  a  bore,  and  Eve  elected  to  re- 
main at  the  bungalow,  and  the  others  proceeded  to 
the  knoll  at  the  farther  end  of  Saltness.  Warde 
supplied  Ralph  Merenthorpe  with  his  whiskey  and 
soda,  after  the  latter  had  examined  the  bottle  sus- 
piciously; and  that  Army  man  remained  comfort- 
ably seated  on  the  veranda,  with  his  feet  on  the 
railing,  to  watch  for  flag-signals  while  the  other  two 
entered  the  stoutly  locked  laboratory  to  send  the 
wireless  messages. 

"There  was  only  one  thing  needed  to  make  this 
May  morning  perfect,"  said  Warde,  "and  my  good 
fairy  has  guided  her  here." 

"Then  your  good  fairy  is  Bee,"  laughed  Eve. 
"She  has  the  curiosity  of  a  cage  of  monkeys.  She 
insisted  on  coming  to  rout  out  your  secrets." 

"I  carry  them  safe  even  from  Bee.  It's  experi- 
ments, calculations,  results — thousands  of  experi- 
ments— that  matter  more  than  the  actual  apparatus. 
A  scientist  might  spend  a  whole  day  in  this  labora- 
tory, and  yet  be  unable  to  tune  up  the  apparatus 
for  practical  transmission.  At  sunset  and  sunrise, 
for  instance,  the  conditions  alter  tremendously." 

"Yet  you  have  this  room  well  protected,"  said 
Eve,  glancing  at  the  heavily  barred  windows. 

"Yes — it's  a  lonely  spot.     Better  to   lock   the 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 21 

stable-door  before.  Even  the  apparatus  would  be 
well  worth  stealing  by  rivals." 

"Tell  me  something  of  your  future  plans." 

"You'd  really  be  interested?" 

"Very." 

The  fire  of  enthusaism  leapt  into  Warde's  fea- 
tures as  he  began  to  explain  to  her  the  possible  fu- 
ture of  his  chosen  work.  "Put  yourself  forward 
ten  years.  You  are  in  London.  Your  mother  is 
on  the  Riviera.  You  turn  to  a  transmitter  on  your 
bureau  and  ask  for  Cannes.  A  few  minutes'  wait, 
and  a  voice  answers  :  'C'est  ici  Cannes.'  You  say : 
'Donnez-moi  1' Hotel  Gallia — Lady  Merenthorpe/ 
In  a  few  moments  you  are  chatting  with  your 
mother  as  clearly  and  as  easily  as  if  she  were  in 
the  same  room.  Further,  you  will  be  seeing  her — • 
her  face,  her  expression,  her  gestures.  A  thou- 
sand miles  apart,  and  yet  face  to  face!  But  we 
shan't  be  stopping  at  a  thousand  miles.  You  will 
call  up  Cairo  as  easily  as  Cannes.  Petersburg,  New 
York,  Delhi,  Tokio,  Buenos  Ayres,  Sydney — they 
will  be  at  your  elbow !  Yet  the  social  convenience 
will  be  trifling  compared  with  the  business,  the  dip- 
lomatic, the  governmental  convenience.  Business 
men,  ambassadors,  chancelleries,  the  Parliament  of 
the  Empire — they  will  hold  their  conferences  in 
the  ether.  Can  you  picture  it?" 

Eve  drew  in  her  breath  at  the  vision  conjured 
up.  But  then  a  question  occurred  to  her :  "Couldn't 
all  this  be  done  by  ordinary  telephone?  We  can 
speak  from  London  to  Paris  at  present." 

"Yes,  but  expensive  cables  have  to  be  laid,  and 
the  range  of  communication  in  any  case  is  limited 


22 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

by  technical  considerations.  Wireless  telephony 
needs  no  cable.  We  shall  be  able  to  converse  from 
anywhere  to  anywhere — land,  sea  or  air.  Ships 
will  be  fitted  with  an  installation,  submarines,  air- 
craft. It  will  be  the  universal  method  of  communi- 
cation. Cables  will  have  to  give  way  to  us  on  point 
of  expense;  wireless  telegraphy  on  point  of  speed 
and  convenience.  Who  telegraphs  nowadays  when 
he  can  telephone?" 

"Yes,  I'm  beginning  to  see." 

"If  you  start  me  talking  shop,"  said  Warde  with 
an  abrupt  transition,  "I  shall  go  on  for  weeks. 
Let's  change  the  subject.  What  are  your  plans?" 

"It's  man's  prerogative  to  make  plans,  and 
woman's  to  alter  them,"  smiled  Eve. 

"Still,  your  dream  of  the  future?" 

"I  want  everything  that's  to  come  to  me — love, 
position,  power,  all  the  beautiful  things  of  life! 
Don't  you?" 

"Yes — especially  one  of  them." 

Eve  lightly  evaded  his  meaning.  "You  deserve 
some  reward  for  spending  months  at  this  desolate 
end  of  the  world." 

"I  love  Saltness,"  answered  Warde  very  simply. 

She  pouted  charmingly  by  way  of  com- 
ment. 

"I'd  like  to  show  you  Saltness  as  /  see  it,"  he 
pursued.  "The  clean  simplicity  of  it!  The  bare 
virility  of  it!  Not  a  tree,  not  a  fence,  not  a  road; 
nothing  man-made  but  the  bungalow  and  the  stone 
sheep-pens.  Nothing  to  screen  off  God's  good  sky. 
Saltness  is  the  playground  of  the  sunsets;  and  the 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 23 

winds  of  the  sea  rollick  at  hide-and-seek  with  us  as 
they  make  their  landfall." 

"Hermit!"  she  teased. 

"But  Saltness  alone  wouldn't  satisfy  me.  I  want 
Saltness  for  my  house-dog,  to  nuzzle  into  my  side 
when  I'm  weary  of  the  world-chatterings  and  long- 
ing for  the  companionship  of  silence.  I  want  more 
than  Saltness,  big  work  and — and  big  love." 

Ralph's  bored  voice  interrupted  them  from  the 
veranda  outside.  "They're  wagging  the  'Ready,'  " 
he  called  out. 

Warde  turned  to  his  instruments,  moved  a  lever, 
and  set  a  spark-coil  sputtering  and  spitting  like  an 
angry  cat. 

"Hullo!  Can  you  hear  me?"  he  spoke  into  the 
transmitter,  and  waited. 

"Yes,"  called  out  Ralph  from  the  veranda,  in- 
terpreting the  flag-signal  from  the  distance. 

"This  is  Saltness.  Beatrice  is  on  the  island. 
Famine  imminent.  Urge  carload  of  food  here." 

"Bee  is  shaking  a  fist  at  you,"  called  the  inter- 
preter. 

Warde  surrendered  the  instrument  to  Eve.  "You 
send  your  message,"  he  suggested. 

"Hullo!"  said  Eve  into  the  transmitter. 

"Yes,"  interpreted  Ralph. 

"Ask  Lord  Esk  to  come  to  the  'phone." 

Ralph  called  out:   "Esk  is  taking  the  receiver." 

Eve  whispered :  "This  is  Evelyn  speaking.  Come 
to  my  rescue." 

"What  does  that  mean?"  asked  Warde. 

But  Eve  only  looked  at  him  teasingly. 


CHAPTER   III 

A   WORLD-OLD   PROBLEM 

The  day  passed  quickly.  Beatrice  and  Viola  had 
to  try  the  dispatch  of  messages,  while  Eve  went 
to  meet  Lord  Esk  halfway  and  listen  at  the  re- 
ceiver. Then  came  lunch  at  the  bungalow,  a  picnic 
lunch  ravished  from  the  resources  of  Warde's 
larder — a  meal  during  which  his  ideas  of  house- 
keeping were  unmercifully  chaffed  by  the  three 
girls,  while  he  took  pains  to  return  as  good  as  he 
received.  Then  they  had  insisted  on  taking  him 
back  with  them  to  the  yacht,  in  order  to  show  him 
its  trim  delightfulness  and  to  return  hospitality — > 
as  Beatrice  phrased  it,  to  "give  him  a  bite  of  Chris- 
tian food." 

Late  that  afternoon,  after  they  had  sent  him  back 
to  shore  and  the  yacht  had  sailed  away  into  the 
grays  of  the  distance,  Warde  sat  and  thought  deeply 
over  a  very  personal  problem.  His  mathematical 
calculations  remained  unfinished,  unheeded. 

His  problem  was  one  world-old — the  key  to  a 
woman's  heart.  Did  Eve  love  him? 

Surely  she  could  not  be  in  love  with  Esk — that 
husk  of  a  man? 

It  was  ridiculous  to  think  of  Esk  as  a  serious  ri- 
val. 

24 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  25 

And  yet 

What  did  she  mean  by  that  cryptic  message  to 
Esk?  Was  it  intended  to  tell  Warde  that  he  was 
poaching?  Was  it  merely  a  girl's  natural  co- 
quetry? Was  it  intended  to  rouse  desire,  to  have 
two  men  fighting  for  her  love  look? 

Warde  tortured  himself  with  thoughts  and  coun- 
ter-thoughts, weighing  up  her  every  word  and  look 
and  action,  trying  to  match  them  with  the  incom- 
mensurable standards  of  his  own  feelings.  The  sun 
went  down  in  a  blaze  of  glory — perfect  ending  to 
perfect  day.  Warde  scarcely  realized  that  dark- 
ness had  crept  over  him  until  the  shepherd's  voice 
came  to  rouse  him  out  of  his  reverie. 

"Meal?  No!"  he  answered  curtly,  and  then 
strode  out  to  tramp  the  island. 

A  sea.-mist  crept  over  the  flats  in  ghostly  wraiths, 
settling  to  a  gray,  formless  fog.  Suddenly  he  re- 
alized that  he  was  cold  and  damp  and  shivering 
and  hungry.  He  looked  at  his  watch ;  struck  a  splut- 
tering match. 

Ten  o'clock. 

"Great  heavens !"  he  exclaimed  aloud  in  a  sudden 
revulsion  of  feeling.  "Is  this  to  dominate  my 
thoughts  ?" 


CHAPTER    IV 

SEEDS  OF  SUSPICION 

James  Burgrave  was  "North  Country."  He  had 
the  big-boned  frame  and  the  broad  flat  face  of  the 
Northumbrian;  he  dressed  in  a  stiffly,  starchedly 
old-fashioned  manner,  making  no  concession  to  the 
modern  sybaritic  city  customs  of  easy  lounge  suits, 
soft-colored  shirts  and  soft  felt  hats;  his  business 
principles  and  business  methods  did  not  run  after 
the  newest  gods  of  "production  engineers,"  "motion 
studies,"  and  "efficiency  routing."  Long  residence 
in  London  had  somewhat  clipped  his  speech  to  the 
language  of  the  South;  but  he  still  retained  some 
of  the  burr  and  the  broad  vowels  of  the  North  Coun- 
try vernacular,  emphasized  in  moments  of  roused 
feeling. 

His  office  reflected  himself.  Stiff  mahogany  fur- 
niture, solid  and  somber — no  light  relief  of  fumed 
oak  or  walnut,  no  fal-lals  of  pictures  and  flower- 
vases. 

On  a  June  afternoon,  blazing  hot,  he  was  still 
dressed  in  black  broadcloth  and  stiff  white  shirt  as 
he  sat  in  the  close  and  stuffy  office  of  his  works  in 
East  London. 

"A  yacht!"  he  protested  to  Warde.  "Ye'll  be 
asking  me  next  to  buy  ye  a  palace  to  worrk  in!" 

26 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  27 

"We've  got  to  broaden  out,"  answered  Warde. 
"We've  got  to  settle  the  special  problems  of  com- 
munication over  stretches  of  sea,  and  there  are  only 
two  practical  ways  of  doing  that:  either  to  build 
an  experimental  station  across  the  Channel,  which 
gives  us  one  distance  only,  or  to  fit  up  a  sea  craft 
and  allow  ourselves  any  distance  we  want  In  the 
long  run  it'll  be  cheaper  to  fit  up  the  yacht." 

"But  why  a  yacht?  Couldn't  ye  make  do  with 
a  fishing-craft  ?  Ah  could  buy  that  cheap — some  old 
tub  that's  slow  but  seaworthy.  Must  ye  have  brass 
railings  and  holystoned  decks  and  stewards  with 
rows  of  gilt  buttons  to  wait  on  ye?" 

Warde  was  quite  prepared  to  rough  it,  as  he  had 
already  done  during  his  lonely  months  at  Saltness. 
Yet  he  felt  that  here  was  arising  a  question  of 
broad  principle,  and  he  pressed  his  point. 

"It  would  do  for  the  immediate  present,  but 
oughtn't  we  to  look  to  the  future?  If  we  proceed 
too  slowly  and  economically,  our  rivals  may  get 
ahead  of  us.  There  comes  a  point  where  economy 
is  wasteful." 

"Agreed,  lad.  But  ye  must  leave  me  to  decide 
when  that  point  comes.  After  all,  Ah'm  the  man 
that's  putting  up  the  money,  aren't  Ah?  Ah'm 
paying  ye  a  good  salary,  as  well  as  others,  and 
Ah'm  laying  out  money  every  day  and  every  hour 
in  this  experimenting  business.  So  far  it's  not 
brought  me  in  a  penny  of  revenue." 

"It  will  mean  big  money  in  the  future." 

"Ah  hope  so.     It's  not  certain.     It's  a  gamble." 

"All  business  is  a  gamble." 

"Ordinary  business  is  a  gamble  where  ye  know 


28  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

the  rules  of  the  game  and  the  risks  against  ye. 
This  isn't  ordinary  business.  We  don't  know  what's 
against  us.  It's  possible  with  our  system  to  tele- 
phone fifty  miles  or  a  hundred  miles,  but  is  it  cer- 
tain that  we  can  improve  on  it  to  speak  five  hun- 
dred miles  or  a  thousand  miles?  There  may  be 
laws  of  nature  clean  against  us.  We  don't  know 
yet.  So  we  must  go  slow,  lad — slow  and  steady." 

"While  we're  on  this  subject,  Mr.  Burgrave,  I'd 
like  to  ask  you  about  my  own  position  and  pros- 
pects. You  know  that  I  refused  a  fellowship  at 
Trinity  in  order  to  work  with  you?" 

"Aye." 

"Then  what  are  my  prospects  ?" 

"They  depend  on  what  ye  do  with  wireless.  If 
ye  go  on  and  make  our  system  practical  and  com- 
mercial, bringing  in  money,  Ah'll  make  ye  head  of 
that  department " 

"I'm  head  of  the  department  as  it  is,"  inter- 
rupted Warde. 

"And  give  ye  full  control,"  pursued  Burgrave, 
unheeding  the  interruption.  "Your  salary  will  rise 
proportionately.  What  more  can  Ah  promise  ye?" 

"Partnership." 

"Listen,  lad.  Partnership  means  sharing  loss  as 
well  as  gain.  What  ye' re  asking  is  this :  that  Ah 
should  take  all  the  money  risk  until  the  system  is 
commercial  and  profitable,  and  then  ye  should  step 
in  and  take  the  gain." 

"Not  take — share." 

"But  are  ye  sharing  the  risk?  Are  ye  putting 
your  own  money  into  the  experiments?" 


"I'm  putting  in  my  brains  and  energy  and 
youth." 

"Agreed.  Every  man  in  business  has  to  do  that 
if  he's  to  make  himself  valuable  to  his  firm." 

"That's  my  share  of  the  risk." 

"Listen.  Ah'm  a  straight  man.  Always  have 
been,  and  please  God  always  will  be.  I  know  ye' re 
a  good  lad  and  a  straight  lad  and  a  clever  lad.  I'm 
banking  on  ye.  If  things  turn  out  well,  Ah'll  play 
fair  by  ye.  But  how  can  Ah  promise  now,  in 
writing,  to  give  ye  a  partnership  in  say  five  years' 
time,  when  all  your  work  may  come  to  nothing? 
Yours  is  not  the  only  department  in  my  business. 
Do  ye  ask  to  be  partner  in  the  whole  business  when 
ye  only  build  up  one  portion  of  it?  And  maybe 
not  even  one  portion." 

Warde  recognized  the  reasonableness  of  that 
argument.  "No,"  he  agreed. 

"Then  what  do  ye  ask?" 

"A  definite  arrangement  on  my  department." 

"Have  ye  worked  it  out  on  paper?" 

"Not  yet." 

"Ye'll  find  it  very  difficult  to  put  into  worrds. 
Try.  Bring  it  to  me,  and  Ah'll  consider  it.  But 
remember  this:  no  written  agreement  is  worth  as 
much  as  an  honest  man's  good  faith.  Ah'm 
straight." 

"I  never  doubted  that.  If  I  had,  I  shouldn't 
be  working  for  you." 

"And  what  ye  get  in  the  future  depends  strictly 
on  what  ye  do.  Your  future  rests  with  yourself  and 
the  laws  of  nature.  If  ye  master  these  laws,  ye 
make  your  own  position." 


30  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"Myself  and  the  laws  of  nature  are  not  the  only 
feature  in  the  case,"  protested  Warde. 

"What  else?" 

"You." 

"Explain  your  meaning,  lad." 

"We  had  an  illustration  of  it  a  few  minutes 
ago.  I  asked  for  a  yacht  to  be  fitted  up  for  long- 
distance signalling.  You  offered  me  a  fishing 
tub." 

"Well,  Ah'll  look  into  the  expense  and  reconsider 
it." 

"It's  not  a  mere  question  of  my  personal  com- 
fort. It's  a  question  of  principle.  I  know  you're 
straight.  But  can  you  see  big  enough  on  the  finan- 
cial side?" 

Burgrave  withdrew  into  his  stiff  collar  and  shirt 
and  broadcloth  suit  like  a  tortoise  getting  under 
the  protection  of  its  shell.  He  did  not  object  to 
frank  speech  on  the  part  of  his  employee,  because 
Hilary  Warde  was  in  a  very  different  position  to 
a  mere  clerk.  Warde  was  a  gentleman  by  birth, 
and  a  man  of  highly  specialized  training  and  expert 
knowledge.  He  was  accustomed  to  speak  to  his 
chief  as  man  to  man,  and  would  not  for  a  moment 
have  allowed  himself  to  degenerate  into  the  "sir" 
attitude. 

But  here,  Burgrave  felt,  was  speech  beyond  the 
limit  of  any  salaried  man's  prerogative. 

"Go  on,"  he  said  with  a  warning  quietness. 

"This  business  problem  is  as  much  financial  as 
scientific.  If  we're  to  blanket  the  earth  with  our 
system  of  wireless  telephony,  it  will  require  heavy 
financing,  won't  it?" 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  31 

"Go  on,"  repeated  James  Burgrave.  "It's  ye 
that  are  telling  me." 

"Frankly,  I'd  like  to  know — and  I  think  it's  due 
to  me  to  know — how  long  you're  prepared  to  run 
the  experimental  stage,  and  how  much  you're  pre- 
pared to  sink  before  we  reach  the  commercial 
stage." 

"Are  these  your  own  questions?"  was  the  North 
Countryman's  shrewd  comment. 

Warde  involuntarily  flushed.  Though  it  was  a 
couple  of  months  since  that  interview  with  Sir 
Wilmer  Paradine,  and  the  two  had  never  met  since, 
yet  the  thoughts  injected  by  the  financier  had  been 
running  through  Warde's  mental  veins  until  now 
they  had  broken  out  into  this  open  protest. 

"I  was  asked  if  we  were  going  into  the  affair 
hearily,"  he  admitted.  "Since  then  I've  been  turn- 
ing the  question  of  finance  over  in  my  mind." 

"What  did  ye  reply?" 

"Naturally  I  gave  away  nothing  of  the  firm's  af- 
fairs." 

"Who  was  it?" 

"I'm  not  at  liberty  to  give  names." 

Burgrave  looked  out  of  the  window  over  the  low 
gray  house-roofs  and  challenging  factory-chimneys 
of  East  London,  considering  very  thoughtfully  for 
many  moments  before  he  gave  his  reply. 

"Listen,  lad.  Ah  could  go  to  yon  City  and  raise 
a  quarter-million  on  the  credit  of  ma  name.  Ah 
could  spend  that  quarter-million  on  bringing  our 
system  to  the  commercial  stage.  Will  Ah?  Ah 
can't  say.  Ah'm  a  man  that  seen  business  since 
the  age  of  fifteen — lived  in  it,  breathed  it.  Ah've 


33  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

seen  great  firms  rise  and  Ah've  seen  great  firms 
fall.  Ah've  seen  boom-time  and  slump.  Ah've 
learned  to  go  slow  and  sure,  feeling  my  way.  May- 
be Ah?d  bank  a  quarter-million  on  wireless  tele- 
phony; maybe  not.  Ah  can't  tell  ye  at  this  mo- 
ment, because  Ah  couldn't  tell  any  man." 

Warde  remained  silent.  He  felt  himself  up 
against  a  high  stone  wall — the  wall  that  shielded 
Burgrave's  innermost  thoughts.  Every  attempt  of 
his  to  scale  it  and  look  over  to  the  other  side  had 
been  repulsed.  He  was  asked  to  trust  in  what  was 
hidden  from  him,  and  his  natural  impetuousness  of 
temperament  chafed  at  the  demand. 

He  too  withdrew  into  a  shell  of  reserve.  "Very 
well,"  he  replied  presently.  "I  must  take  your 
word  for  the  future." 

"And  ye'll  not  regret  it,  lad,  I  promise  you." 

"The  yacht?" 

"Bring  me  a  specification  of  your  requirements, 
and  Ah'll  go  into  it  this  very  day." 


CHAPTER   V 

ATMOSPHERES 

The  enigma  of  Eve  obsessed  Warde's  thoughts, 
driving  a  wedge  into  the  continuity  of  his  work, 
splitting  up  the  delicately  fibered  mental  processes. 

He  felt  that,  for  mental  sanity,  the  problem 
must  be  cleared  up.  He  and  Eve  must  come  to  a 
definite  understanding,  and  quickly.  If  the  Mar- 
quis of  Esk  were  centering  his  attentions  on  her, 
and  not  on  Viola,  it  gave  additional  reason  for 
prompt  action. 

As  to  his  own  feelings,  there  was  no  mistake  of 
mere  infatuation.  That  phase  he  had  experienced, 
at  the  age  of  twenty,  with  one  of  his  pretty  cousins, 
and  he  knew  the  symptoms.  Looking  back  on 
it,  he  recognized  it  for  the  ordinary  and  natural 
desire  of  every  young  and  healthy  man.  It  had 
run  a  rapid,  hectic  course.  The  cousin  had  en- 
joyed the  game  on  the  same  plane  of  feeling  as  she 
would  have  enjoyed  a  sharp,  hot  rally  at  tennis. 
They  had  arrived  quickly  at  the  boundary-stone 
of  a  first  kiss,  and  with  that  kiss  came  disillusion- 
ment for  Warde.  The  physical  contact  of  lips  on 
lips  brought  to  him,  not  the  satisfaction  he  had 
dreamt  of,  but  a  sudden  revulsion  of  feeling.  He 
remembered  vividly  the  quick  disgust  of  himself 

33 


34 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

after  the  furtive  kiss  in  the  night  shadow  of  the 
syringa  bushes.  The  scent  of  syringa  had  ever 
afterwards  become  subtly  repulsive  to  him. 

The  infatuation  had  died  down  from  that  high 
peak  more  quickly  than  it  had  arisen,  and  a  couple 
of  months'  absence  had  sponged  it  off  the  slate  of 
his  conscious  emotions. 

Since  the  age  of  twenty  to  the  present  time,  no 
woman  had  definitely  stirred  him  but  Eve,  and  with 
her  it  had  been  a  slow  process  extending  over  sev- 
eral years,  frank  comradeship  merging  impercepti- 
bly into  the  deeper  feelings  of  friendship  and  love. 
That  is,  as  to  his  own  side.  He  knew  it  unmis- 
takably for  love,  not  infatuation — the  one  big  love 
that  comes  to  a  man  and  lifts  him  out  of  his  smaller 
self  to  a  world  of  high  and  unselfish  emotions. 

The  former  feeling  had  been  desire — he  wanted 
to  possess.  This  was  love — he  wanted  to  give.  He 
did  not  wish  to  marry  Eve  unless  she  herself  wished 
it  wholeheartedly.  If  he  could  be  certain  of  that, 
he  felt  that  he  would  trust  his  whole  life  in  her 
hands,  would  freely  and  gladly  give  anything  that 
she  might  ask. 

So  far  as  man's  love  for  woman  can  be  unselfish 
— never  wholly — it  was  with  Warde. 

His  own  feelings  were  clear  and  unmistakable. 
The  problem  to  settle  was  Eve's  feelings. 

During  the  period  when  Burgrave's  newly  bought 
yacht  was  being  fitted  out  for  experimental  pur- 
poses, Warde  resolved  to  decide  the  matter.  He 
went  to  take  holiday  with  his  godmother,  Miss 
Margaret  Glenistair,  whose  home  nestled  against 
the  side  of  the  Kentish  Downs  by  Maidstone,  and 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  35 

was  within  a  mile  of  "Beechhurst,"  the  country 
house  of  the  Merenthorpes.  She  was  on  their  vis- 
iting list,  and  indeed,  it  was  through  her  that  he 
had  first  met  Eve. 

Miss  Glenistair  did  not  move  in  that  highly  ex- 
clusive, steel-armored  coterie  known  as  "county 
society"  by  virtue  of  exalted  connections  or  by  vir- 
tue of  wealth.  She  was,  of  course,  of  good  family 
—a  family  that  had  won  honor  in  the  field  of  learn- 
ing for  generations — but  her  big  asset  was  her 
personality,  a  very  beautiful,  tender,  unselfish  per- 
sonality. Her  features  carried  a  wonderful  se- 
renity. Though  over  fifty  and  silver-haired,  there 
was  scarcely  a  wrinkle  on  her  cheeks,  and  her  color 
held  the  soft  rose  of  seventeen.  She  was  wel- 
comed everywhere  for  herself — her  modest  means 
and  mode  of  living  sank  into  the  background. 
Everyone,  from  villager  up  to  the  rather  formida- 
ble Lady  Merenthorpe,  felt  the  happier  for  her 
presence  and  had  a  cordial  welcome  for  her. 

Warde  was  an  orphan,  and  though  he  had  near 
relations  in  aunts  and  uncles  and  numerous  cousins, 
his  affection  was  centered  on  Miss  Glenistair.  She 
had  been  to  him  almost  more  than  a  mother;  had 
helped  him  through  the  expense  of  college  and 
post-graduate  studies;  was  very  proud  of  him  and 
his  scientific  attainments;  saw  a  great  future  be- 
fore him. 

Her  cottage  snuggled  into  a  hollow  of  the  Downs, 
looking  southward  over  the  smiling  meadowlands 
of  the  Weald  of  Kent.  In  June  and  July  she  was 
bowered  in  roses,  her  life  hobby,  and  her  peaches 
and  Duchesse  pears  trained  along  the  south  wall 


36 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

ripened  to  a  perfection  famous  at  local  gardening 
shows. 

The  home  breathed  of  the  serenity  of  its  mistress. 
One  could  sink  to  rest  in  it.  Nothing  jarred. 
There  was  no  ostentatious  beauty  in  its  furniture, 
no  elaboration  of  comfort.  It  had  the  restfulness 
of  simplicity.  Around  the  walls  of  the  room  for 
which  "drawing-room"  would  be  too  formal  a  term, 
"sitting-room"  too  ugly,  "study"  too  cold,  were 
photographs  of  many  famous  men  in  science  and 
literature.  These  she  had  known  personally,  as 
the  signatures  attested.  The  books  that  overflowed 
from  shelves  to  tables  told  of  her  wide  and  catho- 
lic range  of  reading.  They  too  were  friends. 

To  coin  a  term,  it  was  her  "friend-room." 

With  quick  intuition,  she  realized  that  something 
was  weighing  heavily  on  Warde's  thoughts,  and  a 
casual  mention  of  Eve  during  a  discussion  of  local 
happenings  brought  a  tell-tale  flush  to  his  features. 
Yet  she  would  not  press  him  for  his  confidence 
until  he  himself  gave  it  of  his  own  initiative. 

Instead,  she  talked  to  him  of  his  work,  of  which 
he  kept  nothing  hidden  from  her.  He  spoke  freely 
of  Paradine  and  Burgrave. 

"Sir  Wilmer  has  just  come  to  'Beechhurst/  "  she 
mentioned. 

"How  does  he  strike  you?" 

"He  gives  me  the  impression  of  sheer  unmoral 
strength.  I  feel  him  shaping  his  words  to  the  de- 
sire of  his  listeners,  but  his  thoughts  are  kept  hid- 
den. There  is  no  sunshine  in  him — only  the  white 
arc-light  of  the  city  streets  that  pretends  to  be 
sunshine.  He  can  be  witty  and  keep  a  whole  room- 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 37 

ful  of  people  in  smiles,  but  it  is  not  the  humor  that 
bubbles  up  from  a  man  in  joy  of  living.  I  should 
beware  of  him,  my  dear  Hilary." 

"Yes,  I'm  not  dazzled  by  him.  Nevertheless 
there  was  truth  in  what  he  said  to  me.  The  shoal 
ahead  of  wireless  telephony  is  finance.  Burgrave 
is  a  cautious  skipper,  and  he  may  balk  at  thread- 
ing the  channels  of  the  shoal." 

"Better  that  than  to  be  stranded  as  the  tide 
falls  and  be  dependent  on  the  help  of  others.  I 
have  faith  in  Mr.  Burgrave,  because  he  is  rough 
and  speaks  his  thoughts." 

"Has  Lord  Esk  been  at  Beechhurst?"  asked 
Warde  after  a  shade  of  hesitation. 

"He  has  been  staying  there  for  week-ends,  but 
at  the  moment  he  is  away  on  the  Continent.  At 
Aix,  I  believe,  taking  the  cure.  Such  a  man  needs 
the  cure." 

"I'm  wondering "  This  time  Warde  paused 

definitely. 

Miss  Glenistair  knew  the  unspoken  thought 
behind  the  pause.  Very  gently  she  laid  a  hand  on 
his  shoulder  as  they  sat  by  the  window-seat  over- 
looking the  Weald,  sinking  to  slumber  in  the  rose- 
gray  of  the  twilight. 

"My  dearest  boy,  you  are  torturing  yourself  with 
the  thought  of  whether  Eve  cares  for  him." 

"Then  it's  not  Viola?" 

"No,  not  Viola." 

"That  settles  one  of  my  thoughts." 

"You  must  realize  that  Lord  Esk  is  a  very  de- 
sirable parti." 

"That  husk  of  a  man!" 


88 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"Yes,  as  the  world  views  it,  a  great  match  for  a 
young  girl  of  impoverished  family.  It  is  no  secret 
that  Beechhurst  is  mortgaged  very  heavily,  and  no 
doubt  Ralph  makes  a  big  drain  on  the  resources 
of  Lord  Merenthorpe." 

Warde's  thoughts  were  busy  with  his  own  prob- 
lem, and  the  significance  of  Ralph's  extravagances 
did  not  strike  him  in  the  present  connection. 

"Could  she  care  for  him?"  he  asked. 

"He  could  give  her  a  high  position.  She  would 
be  Marchioness  of  Esk,  and  with  the  means  to 
gratify  every  possible  whim.  I  read  him  as  a  man 
who  would  be  proud  of  a  wife's  extravagances." 

"With  unlimited  means,  it's  easy  to  be  generous. 
Do  you  know  the  part  of  London  he  owns?  Do 
you  know  the  real  source  of  a  large  part  of  his 
income  ?" 

"My  dear  Hilary,  I  know  what  you  are  referring 
to.  But  let  us  look  matters  in  the  face.  While 
you  and  I  would  ask  how  a  man  makes  his  money — < 
whether  by  a  fair  reward  for  the  services  he  gives 
to  the  world,  or  by  an  unfair  reward,  or  by  a  reward 
for  what  is  positively  harmful  to  the  community 
— very  few  others  would  stop  to  ask.  If  they 
knew,  they  would  gloss  over  their  knowledge. 
That's  the  world  we  live  in." 

"Could  Eve  care  for  him?"  persisted  Warde. 

"That  is  a  question  which  only  Eve  can  answer 
for  you.  But  I  want  to  prepare  you,  my  dear  boy, 
for  possible  disappointment.  The  world  in  which 
the  Merenthorpes  live  is  a  very  different  world  to 
ours.  We  do  not  lay  a  fictitious  value  on  money. 
[They  do.  I  want  you  to  realize  before  you  have 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 39 

built  your  hopes  too  high  that  you  are  not  a  strong 
rival  to  Lord  Esk.  You  have  not  yet  made  for 
yourself  a  position  that  commands  the  world's  re- 
spect. I  know  that  you  will,  in  time — given  the 
time  to  develop  your  powers.  You  will  have  to 
fight  great  opposition  and  great  prejudice.  But 
now,  at  this  moment,  others  do  not  see  you  as  I  see 
you." 

"If  Eve  wants  to  marry  him — really  wants  to 
marry  him,"  mused  Warde,  "I  shall  not  try  to  turn 
her  feelings.  But  I  must  be  very  certain  of  it.  I 
must  know  that  she  is  not  being  forced  into  a  mar- 
riage on  monetary  grounds.  I  must  know!" 

"Is  there  no  one  else  you  could  look  on  as  a 
wife?"  asked  Miss  Glenistair  gently. 

"No  one !"  he  returned  passionately. 

"Would  you  like  me  to  invite  Eve  here,  so  that 
you  can  make  opportunity  for  an  explanation  be- 
tween you?" 

But  this  did  not  fit  in  with  Warde's  sensitive 
feelings.  What  he  had  to  do  he  wished  to  do  boldly, 

openly,  of  his  own  initiative  and  planning. 
***** 

It  proved  by  no  means  easy  to  find  the  right 
opportunity.  The  very  atmosphere  of  Beechhurst 
was  exclusive,  protective,  resentful  of  intrusion 
from  outside.  A  building  of  cold  Jacobean  state- 
liness,  with  far  more  rooms  than  were  in  active 
use — not  a  home  so  much  as  an  ancestral  monu- 
ment, historical,  oppressed  by  memories  of  the  past 
that  forced  a  chill  comparison  with  the  parlous  pres- 
ent of  the  Merenthorpe  fortunes.  The  set  gardens 
carried  an  air  of  neglect  and  at  the  same  time  an 


40 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

air  of  resentfulness  that  any  stranger  should  notice 
their  neglect  The  giant  beeches  and  oaks  of  the 
surrounding  parkland  seemed  to  be  wondering  sadly 
when  their  turn  would  come  to  be  hacked  into  tim- 
ber. Already  they  had  seen  their  fellows  thinned 
down  and  dragged  away  at  the  horses'  tail  to  the 
guillotine  of  the  sawmill. 

Lord  Merenthorpe  could  not  afford  to  keep  up 
Beechhurst  as  his  ancestors  had  maintained  it,  and 
he  had  not  the  courage  to  sell  it.  Instead,  he  had 
mortgaged  it  to  the  limit,  keeping  the  outer  shell 
of  possession  while  the  kernel  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  money-lenders. 

The  three  girls  made  the  life  of  the  cold  mansion, 
sending  echoes  of  laughter  and  radiations  of  health 
and  youthful  spirits  through  its  dim  corridors  and 
brooding  gardens.  The  blase  Ralph  was  of  course 
in  London,  with  his  regiment  and  his  town  occu- 
pations. 

Warde,  a  young  country  squire,  and  the  local 
doctor  came  with  their  tennis  rackets.  Games  were 
heated  and  lively  and  full  of  zest.  But  however  ab- 
sorbed Warde  might  seem  in  the  game  of  the  mo- 
ment, he  was  keenly  studying  Eve,  whether  as 
partner  or  opponent,  and  seeking  the  moment  when 
he  could  take  her  aside  and  lay  bare  his  hopes 
before  her. 

And  while  he  was  concentrating  thoughts  on 
Eve,  another  was  unobtrusively  studying  him — Sir 
Wilmer  Paradine.  Primarily,  the  latter's  presence 
at  Beechhurst  was  connected  with  business  matters 
in  which  Lord  Merenthorpe  was  involved.  He  pro- 
longed his  stay  in  order  to  devise  a  fresh  hold  on 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 41 

Warde.  He  had  long  since  decided  that  the  young 
scientist  was  essential  to  his  financial  schemes.  He 
believed  in  brains  coupled  with  high  purpose — such 
a  man  would  be  far  more  useful  to  him  than  brains 
alone. 

In  Eve  he  glimpsed  an  unconscious  tool  for  his 
purpose.  Of  set  plan,  he  proposed  the  river-picnic, 
which  was  to  throw  Warde  and  Eve  together  for 
the  understanding  which  Warde  could  not  compass 
under  the  cold  walls  of  Beechhurst 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE  LONE  ORCHID 

Paradine  carried  into  his  match-making  the  same 
finesse  that  he  employed  in  his  company-promot- 
ing. He  had  gathered  a  party  of  twelve  young  peo- 
ple for  his  Medway  river  picnic,  equally  divided 
between  the  sexes;  himself  and  Miss  Glenistair 
were  the  only  titular  chaperones. 

It  was  Paradine  who  started  the  orchid-hunt  in 
the  woods  after  lunch.  Having  elicited  the  fact 
that  Leffenham  Woods  were  locally  famous  as  the 
home  of  the  rare  bee  orchid,  he  organized  a  com- 
petition for  whoever  could  gather  the  most  in  a  set 
space  of  time.  He  had  brought  with  him  as  prizes 
some  charming  silver-net  purse-bags  for  the  girls, 
and  Russian  leather  cigarette  cases  for  the  men. 
The  young  people  paired  off  and  dispersed  through 
the  deep  slumbrous  woods  on  an  eager  search; 
Warde  and  Eve  found  themselves  together,  secure 
against  prying  eyes  or  listening  ears  in  a  way  that 
had  been  impossible  to  them  at  Beechhurst. 

The  finding  of  their  first  orchid  was  the  moment 
which  Warde  had  mentally  notched  for  his  opening. 

Eve,  triumphant,  was  eagerly  plucking  it. 

"Now  let's  rest  on  our  oars,"  he  said.  "One 
orchid  will  satisfy  convention." 

42 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  43 

"No,  we've  got  to  win,"  returned  Eve,  lightly 
moving  on  through  the  dense  woods. 

He  hurried  to  confront  her.  "You  know  I've 
been  trying  to  find  this  moment  for  days.  Don't 
let's  waste  it.  Sit  down." 

"How  autocratic  you  are !" 

"I'm  serious." 

"Then  don't  be." 

"Why  are  you  always  evading  me?" 

"Am  I?" 

"Yes.     Why?" 

"Because  I  love  teasing,  I  suppose." 

"You  can  be  serious  enough  when  you  wish." 

"Then  it  means  that  I  want  to  be  talked  to  while 
I  think  of  something  else.  Just  now  my  aim  is  to 
find  orchids  and  win  the  first  prize." 

"Do  sit  down,"  he  pleaded,  "and  give  me  just 
five  minutes." 

Eve,  obeying,  affected  to  consult  a  wrist-watch. 

"You  remember,  at  Saltness,  when  you  took  the 
'phone  and  sent  a  message  to  Esk?"  began  Warde. 

"Am  I  supposed  to  remember  all  the  trivialities 
I  talked  two  months  ago?" 

"Yes.  Was  it  meant  simply  to  tease  me,  or  to 
warn  me  off?" 

"Probably  it  was  intended  to  start  you  guessing." 

"Is  Esk  really  in  love  with  you?" 

"Possibly." 

"Do  you  want  to  marry  him?" 

"I  haven't  been  asked." 

"Could  you,  under  any  conceivable  circumstances, 
marry  him?" 


44 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"At  this  point  the  witness  asked  for  a  glass  of 
water,  sipped  at  it  lightly,  and  then  turned  to  face 
prosecuting  counsel  with  a  firm  smile,"  quoted  Eve 
mischievously  from  a  recent  cause  celebre. 

"I  wonder  if  you  realize  what  this  means  to  me?" 
he  returned  soberly. 

With  a  lightning  change  of  mood,  Eve  dropped 
her  banter. 

"I  don't — care  for  Lord  Esk,"  she  admitted  in  a 
low  voice. 

"Thank  Heaven!"  answered  Warde  fervently. 

There  was  a  pause.  A  distant  village  church  bell 
tolled  out  the  half -hour,  the  chimes  eddying  lazily 
among  the  dense  foliage  of  the  slumbering  woods. 

"But "  began  Eve,  and  then  stopped  herself. 

"Yes?" 

"No — you  continue." 

"Could  you  care  for  me?" 

"I  like  you." 

"That's  not  sufficient." 

"The  five  minutes  are  nearly  gone." 

"Do  you  realize  that  I'm  passionately  in  love 
with  you?"  demanded  Warde. 

He  noted  in  the  silence  that  her  hands  trembled 
perceptibly. 

"You  do  care  for  me !"  he  cried  exultantly.  She 
rose  quickly,  placing  distance  between  them.  He 
rose  too,  but  did  not  attempt  to  bridge  the  distance. 

"I  love  you  too  well  to  touch  even  so  little  as 
your  hand  without  your  consent,"  he  declared. 

She  remained  where  she  was,  the  color  coming 
and  going  in  her  cheeks. 

"Let's  find  the  orchids,"  she  said  unsteadily. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 45 

They  moved  on  together,  and  for  a  space  neither 
spoke,  Warde  full  of  joy  at  her  half-confession,  and 
yet  wondering  still  at  the  enigma  of  her  changes  of 
mood. 

Presently  he  resumed:  "This  love  has  come  to 
me  gradually — very  gradually.  You  know  the  old 
weather  adage,  'Long  foretold,  last  long;  short  no- 
tice, soon  past/  That's  love  as  well  as  weather." 

"If  only  marriage  depended  on  love,"  murmured 
Eve  in  a  low  voice. 

"What  else?" 

"So  many  other  things." 

"Of  course  there's  health  as  a  factor,  but  that 
doesn't  apply  here.  We're  both  sound  and  healthy." 

"So  many  other  things." 

"Name  them." 

With  another  sudden  change  of  mood,  Eve  be- 
came accusing. 

"Men!  They  make  their  choice  among  scores 
of  girls,  at  their  leisure,  studying  points  and  possi- 
bilities. Then  they  make  their  proposal  at  their 

own  chosen  time Women!  We're  ranged  up 

in  line.  We're  to  wait  until  we're  asked.  ^\nd 
then  we're  to  say  yes  or  no  at  a  moment's  notice. 
Not  the  moment  we  choose  ourselves,  but  the  man's 
moment.  It's  not  fair!" 

"You  know  I  wouldn't  wish  to  hurry  your  de- 
cision," he  answered  earnestly. 

"I'm  barely  twenty-one !  I've  not  met  four  men 
that  I  liked — really  liked.  How  am  I  to  know  the 
one  man?" 

"Your  heart  tells  you  that." 

"Yes,  but  am  I  to  trust  what  it  tells  me?" 


46 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Warde,  remembering  his  own  former  experience 
of  quick  and  short-lived  infatuation,  realized  some- 
thing of  Eve's  difficulty. 

"You're  right.  One  has  to  put  it  to  the  test  of 
time.  I  don't  ask  for  your  decision  now.  I  wanted 
only  to  clear  up  the  situation — to  know  how  I 
stood.  Couldn't  we  make  it  a  temporary  engage- 
ment— on  trial?" 

"No — that  might  drift  into  an  arrangement  we 
couldn't  break  away  from  if  we  wished  to.  I  should 
feel  bound  in  honor  to  go  through  with  it." 

"No  one  would  know  but  ourselves." 

"I  hate  secrecy.     It's — it's  so  underhand." 

"How  long  must  I  wait  for  your  answer?" 

"So  many  other  things,"  mused  Eve. 

"Which?" 

Her  face  was  averted  from  him  as  she  replied: 
"My  father  and  mother." 

"Meaning  that  they  would  object  to  me?" 

Her  silence  answered  him. 

"I'd  anticipated  that.  But  I  think  I  can  con- 
vince them,"  he  returned  confidently. 

"You  might  not  be  able  to." 

"Make  the  supposition.  In  that  case,  would  it 
affect  your  answer  to  me?" 

In  their  wanderings  they  had  gone  far  from  the 
river,  and  were  now  crossing  a  country  lane  that 
sauntered  through  the  woods.  Round  a  bend,  pur- 
ring, came  a  swift,  well-tired  motor-car.  In  it  was 
Lady  Merenthorpe,  on  her  way  to  pay  a  call  in  the 
Tonbridge  district. 

It  was  too  late  to  attempt  to  escape  her  eye. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 47 

They  had  perforce  to  stand  still  by  the  side  of  the 
lane.  Warde  raised  his  hat.  At  Lady  Meren- 
thorpe's  command  by  indicator,  the  chauffeur  drew 
up  sharply  with  a  grinding  of  brakes  and  a  spark- 
shower  from  the  friction  of  the  metal-studded  tire 
covers  on  the  hard  road. 

"Enjoying  the  picnic?"  asked  her  ladyship  icily. 

"It's  an  orchid  competition,"  answered  Eve. 
"Prizes  for  those  who  can  find  the  most  orchids." 

"How  many  have  you  found?" 

Eve  showed  her  lone  flower. 

"Then  you  won't  stand  much  chance  of  winning," 
said  Lady  Merenthorpe  decisively.  "I  want  you  to 
come  with  me  to  pay  a  call." 

Eve  flushed,  but  no  other  hint  of  her  feelings 
came  to  the  surface.  "Certainly,  mother,"  was  her 
answer.  She  entered  the  car.  "Good-bye,  Mr. 
Warde.  Explain  to  the  others  Take  the  orchid. 
I  hope  you'll  win." 

Lady  Merenthorpe  nodded  stiffly  to  Warde's  rais- 
ing of  his  hat.  The  car  gathered  speed,  and  dis- 
appeared swiftly. 

Warde,  left  alone,  realized  that  the  struggle  of 
his  life  had  come  into  being. 

"I  hope  you'll  win,"  Eve  had  said.  He  inter- 
preted the  casual  words  as  meaning  far  more  than 
their  obvious  application  to  the  orchid  competition. 

On  his  return  to  the  boats,  explaining  Eve's  ab- 
sence, Paradine  answered: 

"That's  too  unkind  of  Lady  Merenthorpe.  I 
shall  have  to  take  her  to  task." 

His  words  were  light,  but  they  carried  an  un- 


48  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

dercurrent  of  earnestness  that  was  not  lost  on 
Warde.  Suddenly  he  knew  that  Paradine  was  on 
his  side. 

The  financier  had  made  his  first  real  grip  on  the 
young  fellow's  feelings. 


CHAPTER   VII 

SOCIAL   TACTICS 

Lady  Merenthorpe  had  not  kept  her  lead  in 
"county"  on  an  inadequate  and  falling  revenue 
without  being  an  able  social  tactician. 

Alone  in  the  car  with  Eve,  screened  from  the 
chauffeur  by  a  wind-shield,  she  might,  had  she 
wished,  given  full  vent  to  her  tongue.  Eve  ex- 
pected an  immediate  recrimination,  which  would 
have  aroused  her  fighting  instincts.  She  was  pre- 
pared to  defend  herself  and  Warde  hotly. 

But  Lady  Merenthorpe  seemed  to  dismiss  the  in- 
cident as  unworthy  of  serious  thought.  She  did  not 
insult  her  daughter  by  suggesting  that  there  was 
anything  clandestine  in  the  stroll  through  the 
woods.  She  made  a  few  cursory  inquiries  about 
the  success  of  the  picnic,  throwing  no  doubts  on 
the  explanation  of  the  orchid  competition,  and  then 
turned  to  the  affairs  of  the  countryside — calls,  so- 
cial engagements,  the  charity  needs  of  her  villagers. 

Not  until  the  return  journey  did  she  allude  even 
by  implication  to  the  matter  which  was  surging 
through  her  thoughts. 

"I  have  had  a  letter  from  Lord  Esk,"  she  men- 
tioned. "He  tells  me  that  he  has  purchased  a  new 
yacht  and  contemplates  a  couple  of  months'  cruise 

49 


50 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

to  South  America.  He  sails  over  to  Buenos  Ayres, 
then  up  to  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and  takes  in  the  West 
Indian  Islands  in  September,  when  the  temperature 
there  will  be  cooler.  It  sounds  delightful." 

"Yes,"  agreed  Eve  noncommittally. 

"It's  to  be  a  yacht  party  in  place  of  the  usual 
shooting  on  the  moors.  He  gives  a  general  in- 
vitation to  us." 

"Are  you  accepting?" 

"Not  for  myself.  I  cannot  very  well  leave  Eng- 
land for  so  long.  Your  father  will  go — the  cruise 
will  be  just  what  he  needs  to  build  up  his  health. 
I  cannot  spare  all  you  girls  to  go  with  him.  One 
of  you  must  stay  with  me.  Of  course  Vi  and  your- 
self will  have  first  choice.  If  one  of  you  prefers 
to  stay  at  Beechhurst,  then  Bee  can  go.  I'm  leav- 
ing it  to  yourselves  to  settle." 

"Thank  you,"  answered  Eve  gratefully.  The 
suggestion  was  a  perfectly  fair  one.  There  was  to 
be  no  compulsion  on  herself,  even  though  it  was 
clear  that  her  mother  wished  for  the  match  with 
Lord  Esk. 

Lady  Merenthorpe  could  have  planned  no 
stronger  move  to  gain  her  own  ends. 

She  made  no  reference  to  Warde.  He  was 
ignored  completely. 

Lord  Merenthorpe,  on  hearing  from  his  wife  of 
the  day's  incident,  was  for  straightway  sending 
for  the  young  fellow,  and  teaching  him  his  position, 
by  Gad.  But  his  wife,  accustomed  to  overruling, 
overruled  him  in  this.  She  pointed  out  that  the 
most  dignified  way  to  handle  the  situation  was  to 
let  Warde  cool  his  heels  indefinitely. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  51 

"Yes,  yes— but  Eve!"  he  fussed.  "She'll  be 
writing  to  him  or  meeting  him  if  he  stays  on  in  the 
village.  What  are  we  to  do  about  Eve?" 

"Don't  let  us  play  the  heavy  parents,"  summed 
up  the  tactician.  "Give  Eve  some  credit  for  com- 
mon sense.  I'm  quite  certain  that  if  we  allow  her 
free  choice,  she  will  elect  to  go  with  you  on  the 
cruise.  A  couple  of  months  packed  with  amuse- 
ment and  surrounded  by  the  atmosphere  of  luxury 
will  cure  her  of  this  ridiculous  boy-and-girl  infatu- 
ation." 

And  Merenthorpe,  knowing  by  long  experience 
the  soundness  of  his  wife's  social  tactics,  gave  in. 

Nothing  was  said  directly  to  Eve  on  the  subject. 
There  were  no  forbiddings  or  restrictions.  But 
no  further  invitation  to  tennis  or  tea  or  dinner 
went  from  Beechhurst  to  Hilary  Warde.  He  was 
to  be  utterly  ignored,  until  he  realized  the  state  of 

affairs  and  left  the  neighborhood. 

***** 

Warde  waited  in  vain  for  the  imperative  sum- 
mons or  the  angry  note  he  expected.  He  had  in- 
deed to  cool  his  heels.  He  could  not  thrust  him- 
self on  the  tennis-lawns  at  Beechhurst  uninvited. 
On  a  formal,  front-door  call,  he  was  informed  by 
an  impassive  footman  that  both  his  lordship  and 
her  ladyship  were  out — palpably  untrue,  as  he  had 
just  seen  Merenthorpe  giving  directions  to  a 
gardener  by  the  side  of  a  greenhouse.  Warde  asked 
for  note-paper  and  pen ;  these  were  supplied  to  him 
in  the  drawing-room;  he  scribbled  a  note  designed 
to  gain  an  interview  with  the  father. 

The  note  remained  unanswered. 


52 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Paradine,  leaving  Beechhurst  to  return  to  Lon- 
don, took  an  opportunity  of  seeking  out  Warde  and 
assuring  him  of  his  sympathy.  "If  there's  anything 
I  can  do  to  assist  you,  don't  hesitate  to  call  upon 
me,"  he  said,  and  meant  it. 

It  was  inevitable  that  Warde  and  Eve  should 
meet  in  the  open.  He  came  across  her  walking 
with  Beatrice  to  Maidstone  to  change  a  batch  of 
novels  at  a  library. 

"Hullo!"  greeted  the  outspoken  Beatrice.  "The 
pater  and  mater  are  trying  to  believe  that  you 
never  existed." 

"That's  a  dangerous  theory,"  laughed  Warde, 
falling  into  step  with  them. 

"Spoiling  our  tennis,"  grumbled  Beatrice.  "Rot- 
ten, isn't  it?" 

"Bee,  dear,  I  wish  you'd  run  on  ahead,"  sug- 
gested Eve. 

"Right!  I'm  not  a  spoil-sport.  Blessings  on 
you,  my  children ;  but  you  carry  these  beastly  heavy 
books."  She  tossed  them  to  Warde. 

"We'll  meet  at  the  Bungalow  tea-shop  in  the 
High  Street,"  said  Warde,  catching  them  deftly. 
"Order  all  the  ices  you  want." 

Beatrice  strode  on  at  a  healthy  swinging  pace. 

"I  didn't  write,"  explained  Warde  to  Eve  as  they 
followed  in  Beatrice's  wake  along  the  high  road, 
"in  case  letters  might  be  intercepted.  I  didn't  pass 
a  note  by  a  servant,  because  I  thought  you  would 
object  to  that" 

"I  didn't  write  because  I  wanted  to  meet  and 
tell  you  everything.  I  couldn't  do  it  by  letter." 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 53 

"Was  your  mother  very  angry  when  she  carried 
you  off  in  the  car?" 

"Very." 

"What  did  she  say  about  me?" 

"Not  a  word." 

"Your  father?" 

"Not  a  word  either." 

"Nothing  could  have  conveyed  more  forcibly  to 
Warde  the  feelings  of  Lord  and  Lady  Merenthorpe 
toward  him. 

"Then  I've  made  matters  highly  uncomfortable 
for  you,"  said  he  in  deep  concern. 

"No — I  don't  mind  so  long  as  there's  nothing  un- 
derhand." 

"I  must  see  your  father  somehow." 

"Why?  It's  not  necessary.  There's  no — no  en- 
gagement between  us." 

"You  don't  wish  for  that?"  he  asked  anxiously. 

"I  want  to  find  myself,"  she  answered  in  a  low 
voice. 

"But  you  do  care  for  me?" 

Their  eyes  met.    Eve  inclined  her  head. 

"I'm  content  to  wait,"  pursued  Warde.  "I'm 
sure  of  myself.  I  want  you  to  be.  Then  we  can 
snap  our  fingers  at  the  world.  Oh,  my  dearest, 
I  can  give  you  the  big  love  of  my  life!" 

"Lord  Esk  has  sent  us  an  invitation."  Eve  ex- 
plained it  in  detail,  and  added:  "Viola  will  go." 

"And  you?" 

"I'm  thinking  of  accepting." 

It  was  a  moment  of  test  for  Warde.  He  tried 
to  drown  his  own  natural  feelings  of  jealousy,  tried 
to  push  away  the  thought  that  for  two  months  or 


54  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

more  she  would  be  in  the  constant  company  of 
Esk,  with  daily  opportunities  to  learn  the  material 
allurements  of  the  life  he  could  offer  to  her.  Clearly 
the  cruise  must  have  been  suggested  in  order  to 
provide  Esk  with  a  proper  setting  for  his  proposal. 

Nevertheless,  Warde  managed  to  reply:  "I 
should  accept." 

Eve  gave  him  a  grateful  look.  "That's  what  I 
hoped  you  would  say." 

"I  want" — his  voice  became  husky  as  he  strove 
with  the  passion  of  his  own  feelings — "I  want  to 
place  your  happiness  first." 

"I'm  vain  and  selfish,"  continued  Eve  with  a  sud- 
den abasement  of  self-confession.  "I  want  Lord 
Esk  to  offer  me  marriage." 

With  the  intuition  of  love,  Warde  understood. 
"I  know  your  feeling.  In  my  own  way  I've  ex- 
perienced it.  I  was  glad  to  be  able  to  refuse  a  fel- 
lowship at  Trinity  before  I  entered  commercial 
work.  It  was  sheer  vanity.  People  I  knew  looked 
askance  at  my  taking  up  applied  science  instead  of 
going  for  the  usual  demonstratorship  or  professor- 
ship. When  I  was  offered  my  fellowship,  and  re- 
fused it,  they  had  to  change  their  viewpoint.  So 
with  you.  If  you  became  engaged  to  me  before 
you  had  the  chance  of  refusing  the  position  of 
Marchioness,  people  might  look  on  you  as  a  failure. 
If  you  refuse  it  first,  they  are  forced  to  alter  their 
opinion." 

Eve  quickened  to  his  sympathetic  understanding. 
Her  feelings  were  far  more  complex  than  this,  but 
what  he  had  suggested  was  part  truth.  She  wanted 
the  luxury  of  refusal. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 55 

"You  are  quite  right,"  she  said  with  caress  in 
her  voice. 

"You  see,  I'm  learning  to  understand  you  a  lit- 
tle." 

Suddenly  her  mood  changed  to  banter.  "You'll 
have  so  much  to  learn,  for  I  don't  understand  my- 
self!" 

"We'll  puzzle  it  out  together." 

"By  the  time  you've  arrived  at  your  mathemati- 
cal solution,  I  shall  probably  have  changed  again." 

"Then  I  must  determine  the  variability  con- 
stant." 

"You'll  have  to  invent  a  new  calculus." 

Warde  reverted  to  the  subject  raised  a  few  mo- 
ments before:  "What  people  think — how  it  has  to 
determine  our  lives !  We're  meshed  in  gear  with  a 
thousand  other  human  wheels.  To  make  oneself 
a  king-wheel  means  to  fight  against  the  pressure  of 
a  whole  complex  of  social  machinery." 

"I  love  a  fight." 

"I  too." 

In  this  kindly  shadow  of  some  tall  roadside  elms, 
her  hand  stole  out  to  touch  his.  Warde  took  it 
in  his  own  firm  grasp  with  a  joy  that  tingled  to  his 

finger-tips. 

***** 

At  Maidstone  they  found  Beatrice  comfortably 
ensconced  in  the  tea-shop  and  unashamedly  delv- 
ing into  a  second  strawberry-and-vanilla  ice-cream. 

"Who  am  I  to  congratulate?"  she  asked  with 
an  airy  disregard  of  grammar. 

"Eve,"  answered  Warde.  "She's  going  for  a 
delightful  cruise  to  South  America." 


56 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"Oh,  D!  I  left  you  hoping  you'd  persuade  her 
otherwise.  /  wanted  to  go." 

"Perhaps  Viola  will  give  up  her  place  to  you?" 

"Not  likely !  Barring  brothers,  sisters  are  the  sel- 
fishest  creatures  on  earth.  You'll  find  that  out 
when  you  marry  one." 

"I'm  ready  to  gamble." 

"What's  the  arrangement  between  you?"  asked 
the  outspoken  Beatrice.  "I  shan't  tell." 

"No  arrangement  at  all." 

"Honest  Injun?" 

"Big  White  Bear,"  assured  Warde. 

"Mutual  trust — how  very  beautiful  are  thy  feet 
upon  the  mountains !"  misquoted  Beatrice. 

"Bee,  dear,  let's  drop  the  subject,"  suggested 
Eve. 

"Yes,  you  drop  into  a  gorgeous  cruise,  while  I 
stay  at  home  and  make  flannel  petticoats  for  frowsy 
old  women!" 

"You  haven't  touched  a  needle  for  a  year." 

"For  Heaven's  sake  let  me  be  metaphorical  if  I 
want  to." 

"Have  another  ice,"  offered  Warde. 

"I'm  sick  of  the  older  generation,"  pursued  Bea- 
trice. "Why  are  you  such  cowards?  Why  don't 
you  bolt?  Why  don't  you  defy  the  pater  and  mater 
and  the  county,  and  run  off  to  live  in  your  rose- 
bowered — no,  tin-roofed — cottage  at  Saltness? 
Then  I  should  have  some  respect  for  you.  As  it 
is,  your  wordliness  disgusts  me!" 

She  pushed  away  her  plate  with  a  clatter. 


CHAPTER   VIII 
A  FATHER'S  RIGHTS 

The  dignity  game  is  a  game  at  which  both  sides 
can  play.  If  Lord  Merenthorpe  refused  to  answer 
a  letter,  Warde  saw  no  reason  why  he  should  beg 
for  an  interview.  He  was  meeting  Eve  in  the  vil- 
lage or  at  Miss  Glenistair's — openly,  in  broad  day- 
light. By  mutual  agreement  there  was  no  clandes- 
tine rendezvous — no  slipping  out  at  night-time  for 
a  furtive  interview.  Their  self-respect  forbade 
that. 

Merenthorpe  chafed  and  fussed,  but  his  wife  kept 
him  in  check. 

"Give  Eve  a  loose  rein,"  was  her  worldly  ad- 
vice. "Let  her  see  that  we  trust  her." 

"Damned  insolent  puppy!"  fumed  Merenthorpe. 
"A  bit  of  a  clerk!  Sorry  we  ever  let  him  into  the 

house.  Give  an  inch  to  those  sort  of  fellows ! 

If  he  stops  in  the  village  any  longer,  I'll  send  for 
Ralph  and  tell  him  to  give  the  fellow  a  damned 
good  thrashing!" 

The  knot  was  cut  by  an  urgent  wire  from  Bur- 
grave  recalling  Warde  to  town.  He  took  the  morn- 
ing express  from  Maidstone.  He  was  alone  in  a 
first-class  compartment,  deep  in  a  newspaper;  the 
engine  had  whistled  impatiently;  the  train  was  just 

57 


58  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

gathering  way,  when  Lord  Merenthorpe,  also  bound 
for  London,  rushed  along  the  platform  and  was 
bundled  into  Warde's  compartment  by  the  guard 
before  he  realized  who  the  occupant  was. 

Warde  nodded  noncommittally.  Merenthorpe, 
away  from  his  wife's  guiding  hand,  was  a  fumbler. 
First  he  ignored  Warde's  greeting ;  then  he  fidgeted ; 
finally  he  could  stand  repression  no  longer. 

"I  want  an  explanation  from  you!"  he  threw 
across  the  compartment. 

Warde  laid  down  his  paper  and  moved  to  the 
corner  facing  Lord  Merenthorpe. 

"I  am  ready  to  give  you  any  explanation  you 
wish  for,"  he  answered  quietly. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  forcing  your  attentions 
on  my  daughter?" 

"Naturally  I  hope  to  marry  her." 

"Impossible!  Out  of  the  question!  Put  it  out 
of  your  head !" 

"Why  impossible?" 

"Your  position." 

"I  have  nothing  to  be  ashamed  of  in  my  posi- 
tion. I've  deliberately  chosen  my  work  because  it 
has  vast  possibilities  in  the  future.  In  ten  years' 
time,  wireless  telephony  will  be  one  of  the  big  es- 
sentials of  civilization." 

"Your  income." 

"At  present,  six  hundred  a  year  from  my  post, 
and  another  hundred  from  my  invested  capital." 

"And  you  think  that  pittance  a  marrying  in- 
come?" 

"I  shouldn't  expect  your  daughter  on  that.  In 
a  few  years'  time " 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  59 

"What's  your  age?"  interrupted  Merenthorpe. 

"Twenty-seven." 

"Twenty-seven,  and  six  hundred  a  year.  It 
doesn't  sound  as  though  you  were  a  genius,  does 
it?" 

Warde  might  have  urged  the  point  as  a  philo- 
sophic discussion,  but  his  feelings  were  too  earnest 
to  waste  energies  over  mere  words.  He  replied: 
"My  firm  has  a  splendid  future  before  it.  I  shall 
rise  with  the  firm." 

"You're  not  a  partner." 

"Not  yet,  but " 

"A  mere  employee!" 

Before  this  love  affair,  Lord  Merenthorpe  had 
been  treating  Warde  with  a  surface  graciousness 
that  pretended  equality.  Now  the  mask  was 
dropped.  He  looked  on  the  other  simply  as  an 
employee.  Scientific  achievements,  capabilities  of 
mind,  straightness  of  character — these  scarcely 
weighed  with  him.  "Who  are  you  in  Burke  or  De- 
brett?  How  wealthy  are  you?"  were  his  touch- 
stones. Any  other  possession  was  merely  inci- 
dental. 

"Granted,"  said  Warde. 

"Well." 

"Suppose  I  were  in  Parliament — an  Under-Sec- 
retary  at  a  thousand  a  year.  How  would  you  re- 
gard that?" 

"You're  not." 

"Still,  supposing." 

"The  position  would  be  a  considerably  better 
one  than  yours." 

"Yet  an  Under-Secretary  is  as  much  a  salaried 


60  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

employee  as  I  am,  and  very  much  more  liable  to 
dismissal.  Compared  with  mine,  his  prospects  are 
nebulous." 

"But  a  politician  is  not  dependent  on  a  salary! 
The  type  of  man  you  mention  has  almost  always 
a  large  private  income,  and  his  social  position  is 
vastly  different  from  yours.  You  must  look  at  this 
matter  from  a  common-sense  point  of  view." 

Warde  abruptly  changed  the  line  of  discussion. 
"I'm  very  deeply  in  love  with  Eve,"  he  said,  and 
his  voice  carried  a  world  of  feeling. 

"I  don't  doubt  it.  Plenty  of  other  men  will  fall 
in  love  with  her." 

"And  I  know  that  she  cares  for  me." 

"Very  natural."  Lord  Merenthorpe  had  dropped 
anger  for  the  moment  and  taken  to  a  patronizing 
condescension.  "Very  natural.  You're  good-look- 
ing, healthy;  you  play  games  well;  and  you  have 
a  quick  tongue.  Plenty  of  other  girls  will  fall  in 
love  with  you." 

"Then  you  don't  believe  that  mutual  liking 
should  be  a  strong  reason  for  marriage?" 

"My  dear  fellow,  I've  seen  far  more  of  the  world 
than  you.  I  know  that  any  good-looking,  healthy 
boy  and  girl  will  fall  in  love  with  one  another  if 
they're  given  sufficient  opportunity.  That's  what 
we  parents  have  to  guard  against.  I'm  glad  we 
know  of  this  affair  in  time." 

"And  suppose  it  should  be  too  late?"  challenged 
Warde,  stung  by  this  patronage.  "Eve  is  twenty- 
one,  and  her  own  mistress.  She  may  not  look  at 
the  matter  from  what  you  call  the  common-sense 
point  of  view!" 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  61 

The  eyes  of  the  older  man  changed  from  their 
look  of  condescension  to  a  weakly  angry  obstinacy. 
His  lower  lip  trembled;  the  Adam's  apple  came 
prominently  into  his  thin  neck;  his  scanty  gray 
hair,  arranged  so  as  to  make  the  most  of  its  scan- 
tiness, had  become  displaced,  showing  an  acreage 
of  baldness.  His  dignity  was  only  saved  by  his  tall, 
upright  carriage,  his  high-bridged,  aquiline  nose, 
and  the  air  of  aristocratic  breeding  which  was  his 
birthright 

"I  rely  on  her  sense  of  honor,"  he  retorted. 

"Meaning  that  it  would  be  dishonorable  for  your 
daughter  to  become  engaged  to  me  without  your 
express  consent?" 

"Most  decidedly." 

"Why?"  demanded  the  younger  generation. 

"The  duty  to  her  parents." 

"Eve  is  not  an  only  child." 

"You  misunderstand  me.  We  don't  expect  our 
girls  to  refrain  from  marriage  in  order  to  make 
comforts  for  our  old  age,  or  that  sort  of  thing. 
We're  not  selfish.  What  we  expect,  and  have  a 
right  to  expect,  is  that  they  shall  make  suitable 
marriages.  Marriages  of  position.  Marriages  of 
income.  In  regard  to  Eve,  there  are  possibilities 
at  this  very  moment." 

"Lord  Esk,  whose  position  and  income  are 
founded  on  the  ground-landlordship  of  red-light 
property  in  a  notorious  district  of  London." 

"You  talk  like  a  callow  boy!  Try  and  look  at 
this  matter  rationally !  What  settlement  could  you 
make  oil  a  wife?" 

At  last  Warde  realized  the  bare  truth  of  the  mat- 


62  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

ter.  Some  of  the  veils  had  been  lowered  by  Lord 
Merenthorpe,  and  the  rest  Warde  tore  away  for 
himself.  The  Merenthorpes  were  an  impoverished 
family,  with  a  waste  fully  expensive  estate  to  keep 
up,  and  a  son  and  heir  equally  expensive.  They 
needed  money  badly,  and  the  only  way  to  secure 
it  was  by  "suitable  marriages."  Merenthorpe  re- 
garded his  three  daughters  as  valuable  family  as- 
sets. They  were  in  the  market.  They  were  on 
sale.  He  would  not  sell  Beechhurst,  but  he  was 
ready  to  sell  them.  Warde's  bid  was  hopelessly  in- 
adequate. There  was  the  matter  stripped  of  the 
veils  of  conventional  decency. 

Warde  chewed  on  it  in  bitter  silence. 

"I  ask  for  your  promise,  as  a  man  of  honor,  to 
fight  down  this  infatuation,"  resumed  Merenthorpe, 
essaying  a  tone  of  friendliness.  "It's  a  hard  thing 
to  ask,  I  know.  I  went  through  it  myself,  as  a  boy, 
and  I  can  understand  your  feelings  and  all  that.  I 
sympathize  with  you — deeply — believe  me.  But 
Eve  is  not  the  only  girl  in  the  world." 

"The  only  girl  for  me." 

"That's  what  everyone  feels  at  some  time  or 
other.  You  think  your  case  an  exceptional  one." 

"I  won't  give  you  that  promise,"  decided  Warde. 
"You've  brought  nothing  up  against  me  but  my 
present  monetary  position.  You  haven't  impugned 
my  character  or  my  record  or  my  abilities,  and 
those  who  are  possibly  better  qualified  to  judge  than 
yourself  think  that  I  shall  make  a  position.  If 
marriage  is  to  be  a  mere  question  of  money — the 
luxuries  I  can  offer  a  wife — then  it's  for  the  one 
most  affected,  the  possible  wife,  to  decide.  Eve 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  63 

is  going  with  you  for  the  South  American  cruise. 
There  is  no  arrangement  between  us.  She  is  free 
to  marry  Esk  if  he  asks  her.  It  is  for  her  to  de- 
cide." 

"Then  I  ask  you  not  to  write  to  my  daughter 
during  this  cruise." 

"If  she  wishes  it,  I  will  not  write.  And  there  we 
must  leave  the  matter." 

"I'll  send  Ralph  to  teach  you  your  place!"  said 
Merenthorpe  in  impotent  rage. 

Warde  did  not  answer  this  futile  threat.  He 
went  back  to  his  corner,  resumed  the  reading  of 
his  newspaper,  and  at  the  first  stop  of  the  train  left 
the  compartment  to  Merenthorpe. 


CHAPTER   IX 

THE    DECLARATION   OF   WAR 

Arrived  in  London,  he  made  straight  for  his 
chief's  office. 

"Read  this,"  was  Burgrave's  first  word  after  they 
had  shaken  hands.  He  passed  over  a  letter  headed 
with  the  firm-name  of  a  very  large  concern  in  Ber- 
lin, manufacturers  of  a  wide  range  of  electrical 
apparatus  from  the  humble  glow-lamp  up  to  a  ma- 
jestic thirty  thousand  horse-power  turbine  dynamo. 
The  name  was  of  course  well  known  to  Warde, 
and  he  knew  further  that  in  the  last  half-dozen 
years  the  firm  had  developed  enormously,  extend- 
ing its  export  trade  into  the  characteristically  Bri- 
tish fields  of  South  Africa,  South  America,  China 
and  Japan. 

"Dear  Sirs,"  ran  the  letter  in  correct  if  some- 
what stilted  English,  "We  are  well  aware  that  you 
are  engaged  in  developing  your  excellent  system  of 
communication  by  wireless  telephony,  in  which  we 
also  are  greatly  interested.  We  have  now  perfected 
our  range  of  communication  to  several  hundred 
kilometers,  securing  clear  hearing  by  day  and  by 
night,  and  have  overcome  many  of  the  practical 

64 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 65 

difficulties  of  working  which  no  doubt  you  your- 
selves have  also  experienced. 

"We  have  reached  the  stage  where  our  system  is 
sufficiently  stable  to  warrant  an  application  for 
world  patent  rights,  and  the  drawing  up  of  specifi- 
cations is  now  in  the  hands  of  our  lawyers. 

"We  wish  to  inquire  whether  you  are  open  to  ne- 
gotiate for  the  working  of  our  patent  rights  in  the 
United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  lv[o 
doubt  you  are  aware  that  it  is  open  to  us  to  es- 
tablish a  factory  in  the  United  Kingdom,  and  thus 
comply  with  the  'manufacturing  clause'  of  your 
Patents  Act.  Our  alternative  is  to  lease  these  rights 
to  a  British  firm  with  already  a  factory  in  your 
country.  On  the  score  of  economy  we  incline  to 
this  said  alternative. 

"Kindly  let  us  hear  from  you  at  your  conven- 
ience. 

"We  beg  to  remain,  dear  Sirs, 

"Your  obedient  servants, 
"RADEMEYER,  SCHULTZ  und  MACCALLUM, 

G.m.b.H. 
"(per)  KARL  RADEMEYER  (President)." 

"What  do  you  think  of  it?"  asked  Burgrave. 

"It's  war." 

"Aye.  But  what  forces  have  they  ?  Look  closer 
at  yon  clause."  His  broad,  squat  forefinger  pointed 
to  the  second  paragraph  of  the  letter.  "They're 
canny.  They  don't  say  they  have  lodged  a  patent 
specification.  They  say  they  are  drawing  one  up." 

There  was  no  need  to  elaborate  the  point  to 
Warde.  But  to  a  layman  the  technical  point  in- 


66 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

volved  would  require  some  explanation.  To  patent 
an  invention  protects  it  from  infringements,  not 
from  improvements.  If  one  patents  an  immature 
invention,  it  is  laid  bare  to  rivals,  who  can  then  size 
up  its  weak  points  and  invent  a  better  device.  In 
cases  analogous  to  the  case  of  wireless  telephony, 
it  is  customary  for  a  firm  to  make  very  sure  of  their 
ground  before  they  apply  for  a  patent.  Till  then, 
they  have  to  rely  on  secrecy.  The  exact  moment 
when  secrecy  should  be  dropped  often  determines 
the  commercial  value  of  an  invention. 

"They  want  to  scare  us  into  patenting  first,"  was 
Warde's  comment. 

"Maybe  they  want  that.  Maybe  they  don't  hold 
the  cards  they  say.  On  the  other  hand,  they  may 
not  be  bluffing.  Then  they  would  be  first  in  the 
field  with  their  patent,  and  we  should  have  to  take 
their  terms,  or  lose  all  the  money  we've  sunk  in 
experiments.  It's  a  verra  ticklish  point." 

For  a  couple  of  hours  Burgrave  and  Warde 
tossed  arguments  back  and  forth  across  the  office 
desk,  trying  to  sum  up  the  value  of  their  cards 
as  compared  with  the  unknown  hand  held  by  the 
big  German  firm.  They  had  suddenly  been  drawn 
into  a  poker  game  where  their  "ante"  was  the  money 
and  time  and  energies  already  spent  in  experiments, 
and  where  the  betting  might  run  into  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  of  pounds.  The  letter  from 
Berlin  practically  invited  them  to  throw  their  hand 
into  the  discard,  or  else  display  it  openly.  But,  on 
the  contrary,  they  could  sit  tight  on  it  and  "raise." 

"Maccallum  sounds  a  verra  Scotch  name,"  re- 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 67 

marked  Burgrave  after  a  long  discussion  had  re- 
sulted in  no  definite  decision. 

"It  doesn't  follow  that  he's  a  Britisher.  In  the 
time  of  Frederick  the  Great,  many  Scotchmen  went 
into  his  grenadier  regiments,  and  founded  families 
in  Germany." 

"Did  ye  ever  meet  Rademeyer  when  ye  were 
studying  at  Charlottenburg  ?" 

"No.  I  was  too  busy  with  work  to  make  a  large 
range  of  social  acquaintances.  Besides,  in  my  time, 
Rademeyer,  Schultz  and  Maccallum  were  only  a 
small  firm.  They've  developed  very  rapidly  since. 
I've  heard  that  there's  a  large  amount  of  Consoli- 
dated Oil  money  invested  with  them." 

"Verra  likely." 

"Should  we  invite  them  to  send  a  representative 
over  to  see  us?" 

"No — he  would  find  out  more  than  he  gave 
away,"  answered  Burgrave  slowly.  "If  we  meet, 
we  must  go  to  them.  Ah  must  think  it  out.  It's 
a  verra  ticklish  matter." 

By  the  morning,  Burgrave  had  resolved  on  the 
right  way  to  handle  the  affair.  If  both  he  and 
Warde  were  to  travel  to  Berlin,  it  would  look  as 
though  they  were  scared  about  their  position  in 
wireless  telephony.  The  sounder  plan  was  to  send 
over  Warde  as  a  representative — to  discuss,  but 
without  power  to  negotiate  definitely.  That  would 
be  noncommittal — it  would  not  give  away  the 
strength  or  weakness  of  their  hand,  and  it  might 
be  that  Warde  would  pick  up  useful  information. 

"But  listen,  lad,"  continued  Burgrave.  "Ye  must 
be  verra  careful  to  give  them  no  hint  of  our  sys- 


68 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

tern  works.  Ye  must  keep  a  tight  tongue.  Ye 
must  not  take  much  wine " 

Warde  laughed  interruption.  "I'll  be  the  model 
young  Y.M.C.A.  man!" 

Burgrave  frowned  slightly,  not  caring  to  joke 
over  business  matters.  "Ye  must  not  take  much 
wine,"  he  repeated,  "and  ye  must  avoid  all  women. 
Ah  don't  just  mean  common  women — that  I  needn't 
warn  ye  against — but  all  women.  They're  all  dan- 
gerous. Even  the  best  of  them  may  ruin  a  man's 
business  career.  The  canny  ones  can  wheedle  out 
secrets  from  a  man  before  he  knows  that  he's  giving 
anything  away.  Ye  have  some  friends  in  Berlin,  I 
know.  Keep  away  from  the  women  among  them." 

But  with  his  love  for  Eve  rooted  deep  into  the 
fibers  of  his  being,  Warde  felt  secure  against  any 

siren. 

***** 

In  the  five  years  since  his  student  days,  Berlin 
had  leapt  from  a  dull,  undistinguished  Prussian 
town  to  a  feverishly  busy,  glittering,  challenging 
world  city.  The  West  End,  to  each  side  of  the 
broad  boulevard  of  the  Kurfurstendamm,  tingled 
with  the  pride  of  wealth  and  the  refinements  that 
wealth  can  command.  Out  beyond,  pine  forests 
were  being  garnered  in  to  form  a  delightful  set- 
ting for  villas,  each  spaced  away  sufficiently  from 
its  neighbors  to  suggest  a  country  house  rather 
than  a  suburban  residence  within  easy  call  of  the 
city.  In  the  center,  between  Wilhelmstrasse  and 
Friedrichstrasse,  splendid  banks  and  business 
premises  had  arisen,  designed  by  architects  who 
were  creating  a  school  of  architecture  decisively 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 69 

characteristic  and  destined  to  send  its  ripples  of 
thought  far  outside  the  confines  of  its  own  coun- 
try— an  architecture  with  something  of  the  formal 
simplicity  of  Egypt,  free  from  meaningless  curly- 
cues  and  elaborations  of  scroll  work,  strong,  virile 
and  purposeful.  What  Reinhardt  had  given  to  the 
theater,  these  modern  young  architects  were  giving 
to  the  housing  of  commerce.  The  stores  of  the 
new  Berlin,  almost  palatial  in  design  and  decora- 
tion, challenged  comparison  with  their  confreres  of 
Paris,  London  and  New  York.  Huge  restaurants, 
each  bigger  than  the  last,  had  sprung  up  magically. 

Prosperity  glittered  in  the  air.  The  fast-growing 
commercial  wealth  of  Germany  was  being  sucked 
into  the  financial  focus  of  the  metropolis.  As  indic- 
ative of  its  spending  capacity,  Berlin  was  flaunt- 
ing the  dazzle  of  its  "night  life"  in  the  face  of 
Europe.  Berliners  boasted  of  their  "grosste  Nacht- 
leben  in  ganzen  Europa"  just  as  the  natives  of  a 
rich  mining  city  might  boast  of  its  saloons,  dance- 
halls  and  gambling  dens.  Visitors  were  proudly 
conducted  over  a  route  of  cabarets,  garish  night 
cafes  and  meretricious  dancing  palaces,  lasting 
from  ten  in  the  evening  till  eight  in  the  morning. 

Warde  was  greatly  impressed  with  the  offices  and 
factories  of  Rademeyer,  Schultz  and  Maccallum. 
They  were  the  last  word  in  modernity.  The  best 
ideas  of  England  and  America  had  been  freely, 
taken  and  cemented  into  the  fabric  of  the  new  Ger- 
man architecture.  , 

The  policy  of  the  firm  in  regard  to  Warde  was 
apparently  to  treat  him  as  a  distinguished  guest 
and  show  him  everything  he  might  wish  to  see. 


70  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Karl  Rademeyer  himself  was  away  at  the  moment 
of  Warde's  arrival — assisting  at  the  inauguration 
of  a  branch  foundry  in  the  Essen  coal  and  iron  dis- 
trict destined  to  supply  part  of  their  raw  material. 
The  reception  duties  fell  to  Maccallum. 

It  was  odd  to  find  that  this  man  with  the  Scotch 
name  had  a  very  limited  and  halting  command  of 
English.  However,  Warde's  German  was  fairly 
fluent,  and  their  conversation  was  mostly  conducted 
in  that  language.  Maccallum  was  a  man  of  thirty- 
seven,  heavily  built,  slow  in  movement,  but  un- 
doubtedly with  a  keen,  penetrating,  organizing 
brain.  He  showed  Warde  over  the  general  fac- 
tories without  any  reserve  or  attempt  at  concealment 
of  vital  processes,  answering  all  his  questions,  send- 
ing for  departmental  heads  to  explain  special  tech- 
nical points.  The  huge  dynamo-building  factory, 
pride  of  the  firm,  one  enormous  hall  four-storied  in 
height  where  a  man  might  feel  himself  a  pigmy 
in  among  the  complex  of  high-speed  milling  ma- 
chines carving  iron  like  cheese,  turbine  dynamos  in 
all  stages  of  completion,  and  traveling  cranes  that 
lifted  full-grown  engines  as  easily  as  portmanteaus, 
was  a  veritable  temple  of  commerce.  At  Burgrave's 
factory  in  East  London,  nothing  was  manufactured 
on  this  scale — they  made  electrical  apparatus  of 
the  smaller  kinds,  but  left  dynamo-building  to  spe- 
cialized firms  up  North. 

In  the  evening,  Maccallum  took  his  guest  to  dine 
at  his  club,  introducing  him  freely  to  big  men  in 
the  world  of  German  commerce  and  finance,  and 
then  afterward  proposed  to  round  off  the  day  with 
the  show  route  of  the  cabarets  and  night  cafes. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 71 

But  Warde  laughingly  excused  himself  on  the 
score  of  fatigue  after  the  journey  from  London  and 
the  heavy  day's  sight-seeing.  He  knew  that  he 
needed  a  clear  head  to  cope  with  the  responsibilities 
of  his  commission.  The  firm  of  Rademeyer, 
Schultz  and  Maccallum  were  all  and  more  of  what 
he  had  heard  of  them  by  report — heavily  capitaled, 
finely  organized,  finely  disciplined,  splendidly  ef- 
ficient. The  offices  and  factories  were  in  themselves 
a  striking  advertisement  of  the  capabilities  of  the 
firm,  and  from  his  brief  glimpse  of  their  manu- 
facturing processes,  he  knew  that  they  must  have 
keen  brains  within  the  organization.  Naturally  he 
had  not  been  shown  the  working  of  their  system  of 
wireless  telephony.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  as 
yet.  The  system  depended  on  secrecy  until  world- 
patents  should  be  granted.  What  they  had  shown 
him,  no  doubt  of  set  purpose,  were  the  general  re- 
sources and  efficiency  of  the  firm.  It  gave  away 
nothing  as  to  the  strength  of  their  hand  in  the  very 
complex  and  difficult  problem  of  wireless  telephony 
— a  department  of  science  uncharted  save  for  the 
work  of  pioneers  like  Warde. 

In  the  morning  came  the  conference  with  Karl 
Rademeyer,  back  from  his  foundry  at  Essen.  The 
President  of  the  firm  was  a  man  of  fine  presence, 
exceptionally  tall  and  well-built,  with  a  close- 
trimmed  beard  and  moustache  of  dark  brown  very 
slightly  tinged  with  gray.  He  spoke  the  English 
of  his  letter,  correct  though  somewhat  stilted.  Mac- 
callum, in  the  background,  listened  and  said  little. 

There  was  no  hurry  in  the  conference.  Rade- 
meyer was  careful  not  to  convey  any  impression 


72  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

that  he  was  too  busy  to  give  much  of  his  time  to 
the  young  representative  of  James  Burgrave.  On 
the  contrary,  he  made  it  flatteringly  clear  that 
Warde  was  a  man  of  importance,  to  be  treated  on 
terms  of  equality  and  with  studied  courtesy.  Mac- 
callum  had  given  up  a  whole  day  to  the  entertain- 
ment of  the  firm's  guest;  Rademeyer  was  appar- 
ently prepared  to  give  up  several  days  to  the  discus- 
sion of  matters  preliminary  to  any  definite  negotia- 
tion. 

The  conversation  at  first  centered  on  the  neutral 
subject  of  Berlin  and  the  visitor's  impressions  of 
the  city  since  his  last  stay.  Warde  was  frank  in 
his  appreciation  of  the  startling  growth  of  Berlin 
in  the  past  few  years,  though  he  ventured  to  ex- 
press a  doubt  as  to  whether  the  pace  could  be  main- 
tained. 

"We  have  grown  feverishly,  as  you  say,"  an- 
swered Rademeyer.  "Much  of  the  growth  is  mere- 
tricious— yes — but  it  is  sound  at  the  core.  As  you 
passed  through  our  country  on  your  way  from 
Vlissengen,  did  you  not  observe,  Herr  Warde,  that 
the  prosperity  is  general?  That  we  have  new  fac- 
tories arising  all  along  the  line  of  the  railway 
through  Westphalia  as  far  as  Hannover?  Yes?" 

Warde  nodded  assent. 

"Our  banks  are  greatly  interested  in  our  com- 
mercial development,"  pursued  Rademeyer,  "to  a 
much  larger  extent  than  is  the  case  of  your  own 
banks  and  your  own  commerce.  Our  Government 
also  does  much  to  encourage  our  industries,  espe- 
cially when  such  industries  are  in  the  nature  of 
experimental.  You  are  aware,  no  doubt,  of  the 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 73 

manner  in  which  our  Government  has  subsidized 
the  glass  industry  of  Jena,  which  now  dominates 
the  world  for  lenses  and  such-like  specialties,  and 
our  aniline-dye  industry?  Pardon  me  if  I  seem  to 
be  boastful;  but  I  am  proud — yes — of  the  linking 
of  science  and  commerce  in  our  country.  In  any 
new  industry  which  requires  much  scientific  ex- 
perimenting, we  are  able  to  reckon  on  the  help  of 
our  greatest  scientists  as  well  as  on  the  help  of  our 
Government.  You  are  aware,  no  doubt,  that  Pro- 
fessor Emil  Fischer,  whose  fame  as  a  scientist  is 
world-wide,  is  now  devoting  his  attention  to  the 
problems  of  the  tan-yard?  Yes?" 

"A  fine  man,"  assented  Warde,  who  had  known 
him  at  Charlottenburg.  He  added:  "Who  has 
been  helping  you  with  wireless  telephony?" 

Rademeyer  gave  three  names  with  deliberate  and 
impressive  emphasis.  The  names  were  known  to 
Warde,  and  though  they  were  not  men  of  outstand- 
ing eminence,  like  Emil  Fischer,  he  began  to  realize 
the  heaviness  of  the  task  that  lay  before  him.  Here 
in  Germany  was  a  firm  of  immense  resources  and 
splendid  organization,  with  the  good  will  of  its 
Government  behind  it,  and  the  services  of  highly 
trained  scientists  at  its  command.  Over  in  Eng- 
land was  Burgrave,  slow  and  cautious  and  unwill- 
ing to  risk  much  capital,  an  apathetic  Government, 
and  Warde  practically  alone  as  the  research  brains 
of  the  enterprise. 

The  handicap  on  England  was  a  heavy  one. 

"You  mentioned  in  your  letter,"  said  Warde, 
"that  you  can  now  communicate  clearly  over  a  dis- 
tance of  several  hundred  kilometers." 


74  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"Yes." 

"So  can  we,"  continued  Warde  confidently. 

"Pardon  me  if  I  ask  an  intrusive  question,  but 
are  you  filing  your  patents?" 

"We  have  not  yet  filed  them." 

"Then  you  are  not  yet  sure  of  your  system?" 

"We're  sure  of  our  system,  but  we're  not  sure 
that  it's  the  right  moment  to  patent.  That  could 
be  carried  through,  if  necessary,  in  a  few  days." 

"One  should  be  very  gareful,"  put  in  Maccallum 
from  the  background  in  his  guttural  English.  "One 
should  not  hurry." 

"We  have  a  call  on  G.  W.  Marshall,  K.C.,"  an- 
swered Warde.  "He's  considered  to  be  the  great- 
est authority  in  England  on  patent  law." 

Rademeyer  took  the  reins  again.  "Then  you  and 
ourselves,  we  seem  to  have  advanced  abreast.  That 
is  very  interesting.  It  would  be  possible — yes? — 
that  we  have  both  taken  the  same  line  of  develop- 
ment." 

"It  would  be  an  extraordinary  coincidence." 

"Pardon  me  if  I  do  not  altogether  agree,  Herr 
Warde.  There  must  be  one  way  which  is  the  nat- 
ural line  of  development.  You  remember,  no  doubt, 
that  your  Darwin  and  your  Russel  Wallace  ar- 
rived independently  at  the  same  theory  of  natural 
selection.  That  was  not  a  coincidence  properly  so 
called." 

To  this  courteous  rejoinder  Warde  could  only 
express  assent. 

"If  it  is  so  that  we  have  both  taken  the  same 
line,  then  it  would  be  advantageous  to  both  that  we 
were  to  join  forces.  Yes?" 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 75 

"Possibly,"  was  Warde's  guarded  answer. 

"On  the  other  hand,  if  one  of  us  has  found  the 
better  way,  the  other  must  necessarily  step  aside." 

"Or  improve  on  it." 

"Yes.  In  either  case,  then,  our  interests  are 
greatly  in  common.  To  fight  against  patents  is 
expensive  and  wasteful.  We  should  not  desire  to 
fight  against  your  patent.  We  should  wish  to  ne- 
gotiate for  the  German  rights.  But  if  we  have 
found  the  better  way,  would  you  desire  to  negotiate 
for  the  English  rights?" 

"It  comes  to  this,"  said  Warde.  "Whose  is  the 
better  system?" 

They  had  at  last  got  to  grips.  Rademeyer's 
voice,  under  all  its  studied  courtesy,  took  on  a  note 
of  authority  as  he  answered:  "We  are  prepared 
to  demonstrate  everything  to  you,  if  in  return  you 
will  demonstrate  everything  to  us.  That  is  fair — 
yes?" 

It  was  by  no  means  a  fair  proposal.  One  side 
stood  to  gain  heavily — the  side  that  was  less  ad- 
vanced. 

"If  you  mean  a  demonstration  of  apparatus  and 
method  in  detail,"  returned  Warde  firmly,  "we 
could  not  agree  to  it." 

There  was  silence  for  some  moments. 

"I  will  put  my  proposal  in  a  different  form," 
resumed  Rademeyer.  "If  we  are  prepared  to 
demonstrate  to  you  that  we  can  communicate  over 
three  hundred  kilometers,  without  letting  you  in- 
vestigate our  apparatus  or  know  the  details  of  our 
method,  will  you  in  return  demonstrate  to  us  in  a 
similar  manner  over  three  hundred  kilometers?" 


76 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

That  was,  on  the  face  of  it,  a  reasonably  fair 
proposal.  Yet  it  placed  Warde  on  the  horns  of  a 
dilemma.  So  far  he  had  not  succeeded  in  getting 
clear  communication  over  more  than  a  hundred 
miles.  The  German  firm  proposed  three  hundred 
kilometers  (equal  roughly  to  two  hundred  miles) 
for  the  test.  If  Warde  refused,  there  would  be  a 
strong  presumption  that  his  system  was  not  equal  to 
the  test — information  of  great  value  to  the  rival 
firm.  If  Warde  accepted,  he  might  be  entangling 
himself  in  the  discredit  of  a  failure  to  make  good. 

He  decided  to  play  his  hand  boldly.  "I  accept 
that  in  principle,"  he  returned.  "Naturally  I  must 
reserve  my  acceptance  as  to  details  until  I  hear  fur- 
ther what  you  propose." 

"Very  good.  You  agree  in  principle.  Shall  we 
make  a  note  of  that?" 

"Certainly." 

Maccallum  penciled  a  note  on  a  sheet  of  paper. 

"Our  main  station  is  here  in  Berlin,"  resumed 
Rademeyer.  "We  have  a  branch  station  at  Bremen. 
We  can  allow  you  to  converse  with  our  operator 
there." 

"It  would  be  more  satisfactory  if  you  would  allow 
some  friend  of  mine  to  speak  at  the  Bremen  end." 

Rademeyer  rasped  his  chair,  and  he  frowned  per- 
ceptibly. "Your  suggestion,  Herr  Warde,  shows 
that  you  doubt  our  bona  fides!  You  say  that  be- 
cause you  fear  that  the  conversation  might  not  come 
from  Bremen — yes?" 

"The  test  must  be  a  conclusive  one,"  rejoined 
Warde  boldly. 

"I  cannot  agree  to  allow  others  than  yourself 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 77 

to  look  into  our  secrets.  But  I  will  meet  your 
doubt  by  this  proposal.  Let  some  friend  of  yours 
carry  a  sealed  message  to  Bremen,  and  at  the  time 
of  communication  let  him  hand  that  message  to  our 
operator.  Is  that  not  a  fair  test?" 

"Yes,"  agreed  Warde  after  a  slight  pause. 

"Will  you  in  return  demonstrate  to  us  communi- 
cation between  London  and  Briissel?" 

"That  would  not  be  the  same  test — it  would  be 
over  a  stretch  of  the  sea." 

"Then  you  have  diffigulty  to  gommunigate  over 
water?"  put  in  Maccallum. 

"I'd  prefer  to  make  our  test  from  London  to 
Plymouth,  under  practically  similar  conditions  to 
yours." 

"Will  you  agree  to  do  so?" 

Warde's  heart  was  beginning  to  sink.  He  had 
been  maneuvered,  very  subtly  and  cleverly,  into 
a  position  from  which  there  was  no  escape  without 
open  discredit  and  damage  to  the  interests  of  his 
firm.  Believing  that  Rademeyer  was  bluffing  in  his 
statement  that  he  could  communicate  over  three 
hundred  kilometers,  Warde  had  attempted  a  coun- 
ter-bluff. Now  his  hand  was  being  "called,"  and  he 
must  face  his  cards  on  the  table. 

"If  your  test  between  Berlin  and  Bremen  is  car- 
ried out  to  my  satisfaction,"  he  answered,  "I  agree 
to  do  so." 

"Within  a  week  of  our  test?" 

"As  soon  as  the  installation  can  be  made  at 
Plymouth." 

A  typist  was  called  in  and  directed  .to  prepare  a 
short  document  in  duplicate.  They  conversed  on 


78 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

neutral  matters  until  the  typed  document  had  been 
brought  in  for  their  respective  signatures.  Warde, 
after  making  a  few  slight  alterations  in  wording, 
signed  his  name  boldly,  and  in  return  received  the 
carbon  copy  signed  by  Rademeyer. 

"I  beg  that  you  will  join  myself  and  my  family 
at  dinner  this  evening,"  offered  Rademeyer  court- 
eously. 

"With  pleasure." 

"Meanwhile,  no  doubt,  you  will  be  finding  your 
friend  who  is  to  go  to  Bremen  to-morrow  ?" 

"Yes." 

But  that  was  a  problem. 


CHAPTER   X 

THE   HOODED  SKATER 

It  was  clear  that  the  delivery  of  that  sealed  mes- 
sage could  not  be  entrusted  to  any  of  his  German 
acquaintances,  any  of  whom  might  conceivably  be 
in  sympathy  with  the  firm.  Warde  thought  at  first 
of  seeking  out  a  fellow-countryman  at  the  Techni- 
cal High  School  at  Charlottenburg — there  would  be 
certain  to  be  a  few  English  students  there — but  the 
matter  at  stake  was  too  important  to  be  confided  to 
anyone  without  definite  vouching  for  his  bona  fides. 
To  send  for  an  employee  at  the  Burgrave  works 
would  involve  a  delay  of  a  day  or  more,  and  it 
seemed  somewhat  ridiculous  to  bring  a  man  all  the 
way  from  England  simply  to  carry  a  sealed  en- 
velope from  Berlin  to  Bremen. 

Warde  decided  to  call  at  the  British  Consulate, 
and  ask  them  to  recommend  him  an  Englishman  in 
Berlin  to  whom  he  could  entrust  this  mission.  His 
card  obtained  him  the  attention  of  the  Consul  him- 
self, and  the  latter  gave  him  the  name  and  address 
of  an  English  teacher  and  translator  who  would 
doubtless  be  glad  to  earn  a  little  extra  money.  This 
man  Stevens  was  certified  as  honest  and  trust- 
worthy. Warde,  on  seeing  him,  decided  that  the 
recommendation  was  sound. 

79 


80 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

He  then  made  the  following  arrangement.  Ste- 
vens was  to  meet  him  at  a  cafe  near  the  Friedrich- 
strasse  terminus  shortly  before  ten  o'clock  the  next 
morning.  Warde  would  then  hand  over  two  sealed 
envelopes  to  be  taken  to  Bremen  on  the  ten  o'clock 
express.  They  were  not  to  leave  Stevens'  posses- 
sion before  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  he 
was  to  give  No.  i  to  the  Bremen  operator.  On 
request,  but  only  on  request,  he  was  to  give  up  No. 
2.  He  was  not  to  allow  them  out  of  his  possession 
before  three  o'clock  on  any  pretext  whatever,  nor 
was  he  to  let  anyone  know  that  he  had  more  than 
one  message  to  deliver.  Directly  he  had  given  up 
the  second  envelope,  he  was  to  send  a  code  telegram 
to  Warde  telling  him  of  the  exact  time  of  delivery 
of  both  messages,  return  by  the  next  train  to  Ber- 
lin, and  call  at  Warde's  hotel. 

Stevens  accepted  the  mission  with  alacrity,  and 
promised  that  he  would  carry  out  orders  faithfully 
and  accurately. 

"Set  your  watch  by  railway  time  at  Bremen  sta- 
tion," was  Warde's  last  word. 

In  this  manner  Warde  hoped  to  guard  himself 
against  the  possibility  of  trickery.  Though  it  was 
highly  unlikely  that  a  firm  of  the  standing  of  Rade- 
meyer,  Schultz  and  Maccallum  would  descend  to 
any  underhand  practice,  yet  it  was  only  prudent  to 
take  precautions.  He  must  be  satisfied  that  the 
message  came  from  Bremen,  and  he  must  know  the 
exact  time  the  envelopes  were  given  up  for  trans- 
mission. 

****** 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 81 

In  the  evening  came  the  dinner  with  the  Rade- 
meyers. 

With  most  German  business  men  it  was  the  cus- 
tom to  dine  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  and  to  take 
an  afternoon  siesta  before  resuming  work.  Active 
business  would  be  at  a  standstill  for  two  or  three 
hours.  Even  an  important  negotiation  would  have 
to  give  way  to  the  sacred  "Pause."  The  firm  of 
Rademeyer,  Schutz  and  Maccallum,  however,  had 
adopted  "Englische  Stunde,"  allowing  only  a  short 
midday  interval,  taking  a  quick  lunch,  eliminating 
the  siesta,  and  closing  offices  and  factories  at  an 
earlier  hour  than  the  majority  of  Berlin  business 
firms.  So  it  came  about  that  Karl  Rademeyer  dined 
instead  of  supped  in  the  evening. 

His  family  was  a  large  one,  and  a  charming  one. 
Frau  Rademeyer  was  kindness  itself,  mothering 
Warde  with  a  delightful  naivete.  Of  her  several 
pretty  daughters,  Kathi,  the  eldest,  was  regarded 
as  one  of  the  belles  of  Berlin.  Smiling  to  himself, 
Warde  thought  of  Burgrave's  warning — but  with 
Eve  in  his  heart,  there  was  no  need  to  steel  himself 
against  sirens. 

After  the  dinner  they  took  him  to  a  fashionable 
"Eis-Palast"  in  the  West  End,  where  smart  society 
skated  and  waltzed  on  a  perfect  ice-floor  in  the  heat 
of  summer.  Warde  found  himself  partnered  with 
dancers  whose  gracefulness  put  his  own  movements 
to  shame.  It  was  in  its  way  a  relief  when  the  floor 
was  cleared  for  an  entertainment  provided  by  pro- 
fessional skaters,  and  the  Rademeyer  party  ad- 
journed to  a  reserved  supper-table  in  the  gallery. 

The  arc-lights  of  the  arena  were  extinguished 


82 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

with  a  sudden  fizz  and  splutter.  Four  limelights  at 
the  corners  of  the  hall  took  possession;  the  orches- 
tra glided  into  the  opening  phrases  of  the  "Tango 
Argentine,"  then  in  its  first  budding  of  its  popular- 
ity; and  eight  dancers  dressed  in  the  national  cos- 
tume of  the  Argentine  filed  out  to  take  their  places, 
each  pair  followed  by  a  guardian  limelight.  Warde 
had  never  seen  such  perfection  of  skating  as  was 
now  presented  before  him — effortless,  untiring, 
ethereal,  art  concealed  by  art.  Noisy  supper-parties 
stilled  to  watch  the  dancers;  in  the  silence,  the 
popping  of  a  champagne  cork  was  received  with  a 
hiss  of  disapproval. 

The  second  item  of  the  program  was  comic  re- 
lief— a  burlesque  push-ball  match  on  skates  between 
two  teams  labeled  as  England  and  Germany.  Nat- 
urally it  was  arranged  to  provide  a  last-moment 
triumph  for  the  fatherland. 

Karl  Rademeyer  took  the  opportunity  of  asking 
an  important  question: 

"Have  you  found  your  friend  who  is  to  go  to 
Bremen  to-morrow?" 

"Yes.  I've  arranged  for  him  to  be  at  your 
Bremen  office  at  three  o'clock.  Will  that  hour  be 
convenient  for  you?" 

"Perfectly  convenient.  We  desire  to  meet  you  in 
every  possible  way.  Let  him  hand  his  message  to 
our  operator  at  precisely  three  o'clock." 

"Thank  you." 

"I  would  suggest  that  you  come  to  our  Berlin 
office  at  two-thirty.  Between  that  time  and  three 
o'clock  you  will  be  able  to  converse  with  our  Bremen 
operator  and  make  any  preliminary  test  you  desire. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 83 

Except  that  we  cannot  allow  you  to  examine  our 
apparatus  or  learn  our  secrets  of  operation,  you  are 
at  liberty  to  satisfy  yourself  in  every  possible  way. 
Yes?" 

"Two-thirty  will  suit  me  admirably." 
Then  the  house  stilled  to  the  advent  of  a  slender 
girl  skater  in  loose  white  draperies.  She  glided  to 
the  center  of  the  ice;  the  four  limelights  changed 
from  white  to  red,  green,  orange  and  violet ;  and  in 
their  prismatic  beams  she  began  the  butterfly  dance. 
It  was  the  very  poetry  of  skating.  She  seemed  to 
dart  forward  on  the  wings  of  her  extended  draper- 
ies, to  hover  in  the  air,  to  alight  on  a  flower,  to  flit 
away,  to  droop,  to  wilt,  to  come  to  rest  with  folded 
wings ;  to  stir  to  the  scent  of  the  music,  to  awake,  to 
dart  once  more  into  the  air,  to  become  intoxicated 
with  the  joy  of  flight,  to  whirl  in  the  love-dance  of 
the  ephemera,  to  sink  to  the  ground  in  a  last  flutter 
of  iridescent  draperies. 

The  spectators  shouted  their  approval  as  she 
ended;  and  then  a  stir  of  excitement  took  posses- 
sion. The  last  item  of  the  program  was  a  novelty 
announced  in  large  type  as  "The  Mysterious 
Hooded  Skater."  He  entered  the  arena — a  tall, 
enigmatic  man.  The  management  publicly  blind- 
folded him,  and  then  drew  a  thick  black  hood  over 
his  head.  He  was  led  to  the  center  of  the  arena, 
and  the  orchestra  began  a  pot-pourri  of  popular 
melodies.  Meanwhile  an  assistant  had  been  going 
the  round  of  the  supper-parties  with  slips  of  paper, 
inviting  them  to  write  down  any  skating  figure  they 
would  like  to  see  carried  out.  These  slips  he  took 
with  him  to  one  end  of  the  hall  where  a  blackboard 


84  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

had  been  set  up.  Selecting  a  slip  of  paper  at  ran- 
dom, he  read  it  and  silently  chalked  up  "Grape- 
vine." 

The  hooded  skater  had  been  turned  with  his  back 
to  the  blackboard;  he  put  his  hand  to  his  forehead 
for  a  few  minutes,  and  then  began  to  skate  the 
figure  of  the  grape-vine.  Again  and  again  were  di- 
rections chalked  up,  and  in  each  case  the  skater 
carried  out  the  figure  correctly.  The  management 
invited  inspection  of  the  hood  and  bandage,  while 
the  audience  were  buzzing  with  guesses  of  "how  it 
was  done."  The  hood  was  replaced  and  the  per- 
formance repeated,  to  the  added  puzzlement  of  the 
spectators.  How  was  it  possible,  except  by  thought- 
reading,  that  the  hooded  man  should  know  what  was 
being  written  on  the  blackboard? 

With  a  final  burst  of  triumph  from  the  orchestra, 
he  bowed  slightly,  and  was  led  away  from  the  arena. 

To  Warde,  this  was  more  than  a  mere  vaude- 
ville "turn."  It  suggested  his  own  problem  of  to- 
morrow— the  reality  of  wireless  telephony  between 
Berlin  and  Bremen.  He  asked  himself  this :  if 
a  whole  audience  could  be  deceived  by  a  performer's 
trick  pretending  to  be  telepathy,  might  not  he  him- 
self be  deceived  by  a  clever  arrangement  pretend- 
ing to  be  wireless  telephony  ? 

Before  he  went  to  sleep  that  night,  he  had  planned 
out  a  new  set  of  precautions  which  would  entirely 
avoid  any  dependence  on  the  accuracy  of  Stevens' 
watch  or  the  accuracy  of  Stevens'  reading  of  the 
watch.  Warde  must  count  on  the  man's  honesty, 
but  he  need  not  now  count  on  his  intelligence.  He 
intended  to  eliminate  the  "personal  equation." 


CHAPTER   XI 

COUNTING   THE   SECONDS 

At  the  rendezvous  near  the  Friedrichstrasse 
Bahnhof,  Warde  handed  three  sealed  envelopes 
to  Stevens  instead  of  two.  They  contained  mes- 
sages in  German. 

"Give  up  No.  i  at  three  o'clock,"  he  directed. 
"No.  2  only  on  request  from  the  operator.  No.  3 
only  on  a  second  request  from  the  operator.  Don't 
let  anyone  know  before  hand  that  you  have  three 
envelopes.  Otherwise  our  previous  arrangements 
hold  good." 

"I  will  carry  out  your  orders  exactly,  sir,"  as- 
sured Stevens.  "You  can  be  quite  easy  in  mind 
about  that.  If  anything  unforeseen  should  happen, 
I  will  wire  at  once  to  your  hotel." 

Warde  then  made  for  a  shop  selling  office  devices, 
where  he  bought  for  his  own  use  a  time-stamping 
machine.  This  instrument,  small  enough  to  be  car- 
ried in  the  pocket,  would  stamp  the  hour,  minute 
and  second  on  a  roll  of  paper  by  the  action  of  press- 
ing a  knob. 

At  two-thirty  he  was  at  the  offices  of  Rademeyer, 
Schultz  and  Maccallum,  and  was  at  once  shown  to 
a  room  under  the  dome  of  the  roof.  The  greater 
part  of  the  room  was  screened  off  by  a  rough  board 

85 


86 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

partition  evidently  erected  for  the.  occasion.  In 
the  open  against  the  partition  was  a  small  table  on 
which  rested  a  receiver  and  transmitter,  wrapped 
in  cloth  so  as  to  conceal  their  shape,  with  only  the 
openings  free  to  his  view.  That  was  within  the 
letter  of  the  contract,  and  Warde  had  no  objection 
to  raise. 

"We  have  tuned  up  our  instruments  and  are  now 
in  touch  with  Bremen,"  said  Rademeyer.  "Will  you 
care  to  speak  to  our  operator?" 

Warde's  pulse  was  hammering  in  every  limb  as 
he  seated  himself  before  the  transmitter  and  began 
in  German: 

"Hullo,  are  you  there?" 

"Hullo.  This  is  Bremen,"  came  the  answer  in 
the  same  language.  "Is  that  Herr  Warde?" 

"Please  speak  louder." 

"Is  that  Herr  Warde?" 

"Yes.  Now  please  speak  lower.  .  .  .  Lower 
still.  .  .  .  Whisper.  .  .  .  Tap  a  pencil  against  your 
transmitter.  .  .  .  Tap  a  pencil  against  your 
table.  .  .  .  Whistle  softly.  .  .  ." 

Maccallum,  behind  the  partition,  called  out: 
"Gan  you  hear  very  glear?  If  you  gannot,  I  will 
make  to  adjust." 

"Perfectly  clear,  thank  you,"  returned  Warde. 
Then  into  the  instrument:  "Have  you  a  Bremen 
afternoon  newspaper?" 

"No,"  came  the  answer,  "but  I  will  get  one  and 
read  to  you  from  it." 

There  was  silence  for  some  time  while  presum- 
ably the  newspaper  was  being  obtained  by  the  op- 
erator. Warde,  with  a  sinking  heart,  knew  it  for 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  87 

the  peculiar  silence  of  wireless  telephony,  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  silence  of  an  ordinary  telephone.  The 
latter  is  filled  with  vague  tremors  and  murmurings 
due  to  induction  currents  in  the  wires,  but  the  for- 
mer is  disturbed  only  by  peculiar  and  characteristic 
scratchings  due  to  atmospheric  electrical  disturb- 
ances. Warde  knew  the  difference  too  well  to  be 
mistaken  on  the  point.  This  was  indeed  a  demon- 
stration of  wireless  telephony — he  was  not  being 
deceived  by  the  use  of  a  trunk  telephone  wire  be- 
tween Berlin  and  Bremen.  But  he  still  had  to  be 
convinced  that  he  was  speaking  to  Bremen,  and  not 
to  an  installation  in  perhaps  another  room  of  the 
building  he  was  now  in. 

The  operator  resumed :    "Hullo,  are  you  there  ?" 

"Yes." 

"I  will  now  read  to  you  from  an  edition  of  the 
'Bremen  Anzeiger,'  which  is  sold  on  the  streets 
after  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  When  I  have 
finished  I  will  post  you  the  newspaper  marked  with 
what  I  have  been  reading."  The  operator  then  pro- 
ceeded to  call  out  one  fragment  of  letterpress  after 
another  until  Warde  expressed  himself  satisfied  with 
the  test. 

"Has  Herr  Stevens  arrived  at  your  office?"  he 
asked. 

"I  will  inquire."  Presently  the  answer  came: 
"Not  yet." 

"Let  me  know  as  soon  as  he  arrives." 

It  was  ten  minutes  to  three  when  the  word  came 
that  Stevens  had  reached  the  office  and  was  waiting 
in  an  ante-room. 

"Ask  him  for  my  message,"  said  Warde. 


88  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

There  was  silence  while  presumably  the  operator 
went  for  the  envelope. 

"Herr  Stevens  states  that  he  will  not  give  up 
the  message  before  three  o'clock,"  was  the  reply 
after  a  delay  of  a  minute  or  so. 

By  that,  Warde  knew  he  had  a  faithful  mes- 
senger in  Stevens — one  who  was  not  to  be  deluded 
into  disobeying  orders. 

Shortly  after  three  o'clock  the  operator  called : 
"I  have  now  the  envelope  from  Herr  Stevens.  I 
open  it  and  read  out:  'Saltness.  Beatrice  is  on 
the  island.  Famine  imminent.  Urge  carload  of 
food  here.'  " 

By  turn  of  fancy,  Warde  had  taken  his  test 
messages  from  those  used  on  the  day  when  the 
Merenthorpe  party  had  descended  on  Saltness.  He 
answered:  "Right.  Ask  Herr  Stevens  for  the 
second  message,"  and  as  he  spoke  the  words  he 
pressed  in  his  side-pocket  the  knob  of  the  time- 
stamping  machine. 

Again  a  short  delay. 

Then  the  voice  of  the  operator :  "I  have  now  a 
second  envelope  from  Herr  Stevens.  I  open  it 
and  read  out :  This  is  Evelyn.  Come  to  my  res- 
cue.' " 

Warde  pressed  the  knob  of  the  time-stamp  a 
second  time  and  answered :  "Ask  him  for  the  third 
message." 

This  time  the  wait  was  considerably  longer. 
Rademeyer,  watching  keenly  behind  Warde's  back, 
frowned  heavily  as  the  moments  dragged  on  into 
minutes.  From  behind  the  screen  Maccallum 
coughed  to  clear  his  throat. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  89 

When  the  operator's  voice  was  again  heard, 
Warde  made  a  third  pressure  on  his  time-stamp  in 
his  pocket. 

"Please  excuse  the  delay,"  said  the  operator. 
"I  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  jam  my  finger  in  the 
door,  and  I  turned  sick.  I  now  read  from  the  third 
envelope." 

This  time  the  message  was  a  very  long  one,  a 
whole  newspaper  column  taking  several  minutes  to 
deliver.  On  the  last  word,  Warde  pressed  his  time- 
stamp  for  the  fourth  and  last  time. 

"Right,"  he  answered.  "You  have  sent  my  mes- 
sages perfectly.  Best  thanks !" 

And  he  turned  to  face  Rademeyer  with  a  frank 
appreciation:  "The  transmission  is  excellent.  I 
scarcely  lost  a  word  of  the  messages.  I  congratu- 
late you!" 

"You  are  satisfied  with  your  tests  ?"  asked  Rade- 
meyer. 

"I  must  wait,  of  course,  to  exchange  notes  with 
Mr.  Stevens.  He'll  be  returning  to  Berlin  to-night." 

"Naturally.  That  is  only  prudent.  Shall  we 
meet  to  discuss  further  matters  to-morrow  morning 
at  ten  o'clock — yes?" 

"That  will  be  quite  convenient  for  me." 

Late  that  evening  Stevens  presented  himself  at 
Warde's  hotel.  His  account  of  the  day's  doings  at 
Bremen  was  plain  and  straightforward.  No  at- 
tempt had  been  made  to  get  hold  of  his  messages 
beyond  one  request  at  about  ten  minutes  to  three. 
(Warde  nodded.)  He  had  refused  that;  otherwise 
the  proceedings  were  exactly  as  expected. 

"One  more  question,"  said  Warde.    "When  the 


90 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

operator  came  to  you  for  the  third  message,  did  he 
in  coming  or  going  jam  his  finger  in  the  door?" 

"No!"  answered  Stevens  in  surprise. 

"Was  he  transmitting  in  the  next  room  to 
yours  ?" 

"That  I  can't  say.  I  was  kept  in  a  waiting-room 
on  the  first  floor." 

He  left  Warde  deep  in  thought,  studying  the 
roll  of  paper  from  his  time-stamp.  The  impressions 
of  the  instrument  were  these : 

Asked  for  message  2 3.0.42 

Received  message  2 3.1-23 

Received  first  word  of  message  3 3.5.08 

Received  last  word  of  message  3 3.8.10 

On  their  right  interpretation  hung  Warde' s 
career. 

***** 

Again  Rademeyer's  office;  he  and  Warde  facing 
one  another  across  the  flat  oaken  desk;  Maccallum 
in  the  background.  Outwardly,  an  interview  of 
perfect  friendliness. 

"Did  you  see  your  Herr  Stevens  last  night?" 
Rademeyer  was  saying.  "Did  he  assure  you  of 
the  correct  delivery  of  your  messages — yes?" 

"Quite." 

"Have  you  any  further  questions  you  would  like 
to  ask  of  us?  Do  not  hesitate,  I  beg  of  you." 

"I  have,"  replied  Warde,  and  taking  a  slip  of 
paper  from  his  pocket-book,  he  passed  it  across  the 
desk.  "This  is  a  record  of  the  time  when  I  received 
my  first  message  and  asked  for  the  next.  You  see 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 91 

that  it  marks  42  seconds  past  .the  hour,  whereas  Mr. 
Stevens  tells  me  that  he  gave  up  the  message  at 
three  o'clock  to  the  instant." 

Rademeyer  smiled  in  friendly  fashion.  "It  is 
possible — yes? — that  there  may  have  been  a  dif- 
ference of  half  a  minute  between  your  watch  and 
Herr  Stevens'.  Then  you  must  also  remember  that 
he  was  waiting  in  another  room  from  that  in  which 
our  operator  was  transmitting,  and  to  carry  his  mes- 
sage from  one  to  the  other  requires  time.  Thirdly, 
you  say  that  you  took  the  time  after  you  had  re- 
ceived the  message,  and  so  you  must  allow  10  or 
15  seconds  for  that  message  to  be  spoken.  Yes?" 

"I  agree,"  said  Warde.  "Let's  pass  on  to  my 
next  point.  Here  is  another  time-record — the  time 
of  receiving  the  second  message."  He  passed  an- 
other slip  of  paper  to  Rademeyer.  "You  see  that 
it  marks  3.1.23,  which  means  that  it  took  41  sec- 
onds to  get  my  second  envelope,  open  it,  and  trans- 
mit half  a  dozen  words." 

"Already,  Herr  Warde,  I  have  explained  to  you 
that  your  messenger  was  not  in  the  same  room  with 
our  operator.  The  latter  was  in  a  room  under  the 
roof,  and  I  understand  that  your  Mr.  Stevens  was 
in  the  waiting-room,  which  is  on  the  first  floor.  You 
must  allow  sufficient  time  to  go  downstairs  and  up- 
stairs again.  Forty-one  seconds — he  must  indeed 
have  run  up  and  down  those  stairs." 

"I  accept  that,"  answered  Warde  evenly.  "Let 
us  reckon  41  seconds  as  the  time  taken  to  go  for 
the  envelope  and  return.  Here  is  a  third  slip,  the 
time  of  receiving  the  first  word  of  message  3 — 
3.5.08.  There  was  a  delay  of  3  minutes  45  seconds. 


92 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Deduct  the  41  seconds  I  have  already  accepted,  and 
it  still  leaves  3  minutes  4  seconds  unaccounted  for." 

"But  our  operator  jammed  his  finger  in  the  door 
and  turned  faint!"  protested  Rademeyer. 

Warde  smashed  home  a  question :  "How  did  you 
know  that?" 

For  just  a  fleeting  moment  Rademeyer  hesitated 
over  his  answer.  For  a  fraction  of  a  second  his 
brain  wavered  over  the  correct  excuse  to  make. 
"I  knew  that  there  was  a  delay,  and  so  I  afterward 
telephoned  to  our  operator  to  ask  the  reason  for  it. 
He  told  me  that  he  had  caught  his  finger  in  the 
door  and  that  he  nearly  fainted  from  the  pain  of 
it.  It  was  some  minutes  before  he  recovered.  If 
you  do  not  believe  me,  Herr  Warde,  I  will  send  for 
the  operator  this  very  day  and  you  can  see  his 
damaged  finger  for  yourself." 

Warde  passed  over  the  fourth  time-record  to 
Rademeyer.  "This  represents  the  time  of  receiving 
the  last  word  of  the  last  message — 3.8.10.  It  means 
that  3  minutes  2  seconds  were  required  for  the 
transmission  of  the  newspaper  column.  That  time 
is  startlingly  close  to  the  3  minutes  4  seconds  during 
which  your  operator  was  recovering  from  his  hurt." 

"I  beg  that  you  will  put  your  accusation  into 
plain  language,"  returned  Rademeyer  stiffly. 

"I  will  reply  by  an  analogy,"  rejoined  Warde. 
"The  evening  before  last,  we  were  at  the  Eis-Palast 
watching  the  very  clever  performance  of  the  hooded 
skater.  An  operator  chalked  up  a  message  on  a 
blackboard,  and  after  a  short  but  perceptible  inter- 
val the  hooded  man  received  the  message  and  acted 
on  it.  Can  you  explain  it  to  me?" 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  93 

"What  has  this  to  do  with  the  subject  of  our 
discussion  ?" 

"Did  you  realize  that  the  blackboard  message 
was  being  taken  by  the  conductor  of  the  orchestra, 
and  that  he  was  incorporating  it  into  his  pot-pourri 
music?  In  other  words,  that  message  was  relayed." 

"Egsplain  yourself!"  demanded  Maccallum  with 
a  threatening  note  in  his  voice. 

"There  was  a  delay  of  3  minutes  4  seconds  in  the 
transmission  of  my  newspaper  column,  just  the 
time  necessary  to  send  it  from  Bremen  to  Berlin  by 
trunk  telephone  wire  and  take  it  down  in  short- 
hand, before  relaying  it  by  wireless  to  myself." 

"You  agguse  us  of  that?" 

"I  make  no  accusation.  I  point  out  the  startling 
coincidence  between  3  minutes  4  seconds  of  delay, 
and  3  minutes  2  seconds  necessary  to  transmit  a 
newspaper  column." 

"I  will  at  once  send  for  the  operator  and  confront 
him  with  you!"  said  Rademeyer  angrily.  "Never 
in  all  the  history  of  our  firm  have  we  been  accused 
of  trickery!  You  shall  see  the  injured  finger  for 
yourself.  And  then,  I  hope,  you  will  be  good 
enough  to  make  an  unconditional  apology  to  us !" 

Warde  could  picture  the  unfortunate  man  at 
Bremen  being  required  to  jam  his  finger  in  a  door 
before  traveling  to  Berlin  with  it  as  evidence.  He 
answered :  "It  is  unnecessary  to  send  for  him,  be- 
cause I  shall  be  taking  the  midday  express  back  to 
England." 

"You  mean  that  you  refuse  to  carry  out  your 
signed  agreement." 

"My  signed  agreement  was  conditional  on  your 


94 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

test  being  carried  out  satisfactorily.  The  test  was 
not  satisfactory,  and  therefore  the  agreement  is  null 
and  void." 

Warde  rose  to  take  his  leave. 

Maccallum  made  quickly  toward  the  door  as 
though  he  would  bar  the  exit,  but  realizing  the 
futility  of  such  a  move,  stopped  short. 

"You  will  pay  for  this!"  he  flung  at  Warde. 


CHAPTER   XII 

A    LOVER'S    PARTING 

"Well,  lad?"  greeted  Burgrave. 

"They're  scared  of  us!"  smiled  Warde,  sum- 
marizing the  situation  in  one  phrase. 

"How  far  can  they  telephone?" 

"I  know  how  far  they  can't — and  that's  two  hun- 
dred miles.  On  the  evidence  they  gave  me,  they 
have  a  system  of  sorts,  and  they've  been  trying  to 
bluff  us  that  it's  nearly  perfected.  They've  been 
wanting  to  frighten  us  into  patenting  hurriedly." 

"Now  tell  me  everything  from  the  beginning." 

Warde  gave  a  complete  account  of  his  visit  to 
Berlin — Burgrave  interposing  a  shrewd  nod  and  a 
question  here  and  there.  He  was  not  the  man  to 
give  much  praise  to  his  subordinates,  and  he  did 
not  intend  to  let  Warde  feel  puffed  up. 

"Ye  ran  a  great  risk  in  agreeing  to  telephone  from 
London  to  Plymouth,"  was  his  sober  comment. 

"One  has  to  run  risks  in  a  big  game.  I  felt  they 
were  bluffing  and  I  called  their  bluff." 

"They  won't  readily  forgive  ye  for  that." 

"What  can  they  do?" 

"Ye  say  that  they  have  a  system  with  a  good 
transmission " 

"But  on  the  evidence  of  the  test,  it  might  have 
95 


96 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

been  merely  from  one  room  in  the  head  office  to 
another.  That  would  be  two  years  behind  ours." 

"It  might  have  been  halfway  between  Berlin 
and  Bremen.  We  mustn't  be  overconfident.  We 
only  know  that  we  have  a  start  of  them,  and  we 
must  work  harder  and  quicker  than  ever.  The 
yacht  is  ready  for  ye — can  ye  start  to-day?" 

Warde  felt  somewhat  disappointed  at  the  cautious 
commendation  of  his  chief.  However,  he  agreed, 
packed  up  some  personal  effects,  and  went  to  the 
Lower  Thames  dockyard  where  the  yacht  had  been 
fitted  up  for  experimental  purposes.  She  was  a 
small  schooner  needing  only  a  skipper,  three  seamen, 
and  a  cook  to  man  her — a  steady,  sober,  unpre- 
tentious craft.  A  slow  sailer,  but  speed  was  of  no 
importance  to  Warde. 

Before  settling  down  to  the  routine  of  the  ex- 
perimental work  at  sea,  he  went  to  say  good-by  to 
Eve.  Taking  the  yacht  into  Queensboro'  Harbor, 
he  allowed  himself  a  day  in  which  to  travel  to  his 
godmother's ;  and  in  the  "friend-room"  he  made  his 
adieu  to  the  girl  he  loved. 

"Three  months  before  we  see  one  another  again ! 
If  I  hadn't  my  work,  I  should  go  mad  with  longing 
for  you." 

"  'Man's  love  is  of  his  life  a  thing  apart,'  "  quoted 
Eve. 

"And  is  it  your  'whole  existence'  ?" 

"No,"  she  admitted  with  a  frank  self-analysis. 
"I  don't  feel  that  I  could  ever  love  in  that  way.  I 
must  have  my  career  too." 

"With  me,  you  would  have  it.     There's  a  big 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 97 

fight  ahead.  I  need  your  inspiration  as  well  as  your 
love." 

"Is  it  fair  to  us  that  we  should  have  no  career 
apart  from  men?" 

"Tell  me  what  it  is  you're  wanting,  dearest,"  he 
answered  tenderly. 

"I  scarcely  know.  Don't  you  see  that  I  have  to 
find  myself?" 

Again  Warde  felt  the  mysterious  barrier  of  sex. 
His  own  desires  and  feelings  were  so  plain  and 
straightforward.  With  his  whole  heart  he  wanted 
her  love  and  companionship,  coexistent  with  the 
pursuit  of  his  ambition  to  wrest  the  secrets  of  Na- 
ture and  make  his  country  "mistress  of  the  ether." 
It  was  hard  to  understand  Eve's  complexity  of 
moods.  She  had  admitted  that  she  loved  him — it 
was  clear  too  from  the  light  in  her  eyes  when  she 
had  greeted  him.  Could  not  his  love  satisfy  her? 
No,  she  wanted  a  career  as  well.  But  what  career 
for  her  could  it  be  apart  from  marriage  ? 

"You  don't  want  to  marry?"  he  groped. 

"Oh,  but  I  do!" 

"Are  you  sure  of  that?" 

"Quite  sure." 

"I  wish  I  could  understand  your  difficulty." 

"There  are  so  many  other  things  in  marriage 
besides  love." 

"Of  course  there's  your  father's  objection  to  me. 
I'm  not  in  Debrett." 

The  look  she  flashed  at  him  told  him  clearly  that 
he  counted  with  her  far  beyond  her  father's 
prejudices. 

"And  I've  not  yet  made  my  position.     If  I  had 


98 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

any  doubts  about  the  future,  I  shouldn't  be  asking 
you  to  share  my  life.  But  I'm  sure!  In  a  few 
years'  time  I'll  have  made  the  world  realize  what's 
in  me.  I  shall  be  able  to  give  you  not  only  love, 
but  position  and  power  and  all  the  beautiful  things 
you  told  me  you  longed  for !" 

"Don't,  Hilary!"  she  pleaded.  "Don't  press  me 
to  give  you  a  definite  answer." 

"You're  right.  I'm  a  brute,"  he  returned  peni- 
tently. "You  must  go  for  your  cruise  with  Esk 
and  be  quite  free  to  make  your  choice." 

"It's  only  to  test  myself." 

"I  know  that.  Yet,  in  a  way,  I  wish  we  were 
doing  what  Bee  proposed  in  jest — making  a  run- 
away marriage  without  caring  a  hang  for  the 
world's  opinion.  That  would  be  clean  and  strong." 

"If  we  were  savages,  it  would  be.  But  we're 
civilized  man  and  woman." 

"Is  civilization  progress?"  he  queried. 

"We  have  to  take  the  world  as  we  find  it." 

"No,  we  have  to  take  the  world  and  shake  it." 

"If  I  were  to  run  away  with  you,  as" Eve 

hesitated  for  a  moment,  and  then  continued  boldly 

"as  I  long  to  do,  I  might  wake  up  from  my 

dream  to  a  cold  gray  dawn  of  reality  and  find  my- 
self. Think  of  the  horror  of  finding  oneself  after 
one  had  made  an  irrevocable  step !" 

Was  this  the  laughing,  teasing  Eve  of  that  day  at 
Saltness,  and  of  many  other  days  of  tennis  and  pic- 
nic and  the  surface  amusements  of  life.  Warde 
began  to  feel  that  the  more  he  learnt  of  her  inner 
depths,  the  less  he  understood  her.  But  the  passion 
of  his  love  swept  doubts  away. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 99 

"All  red-blooded  life's  a  risk  and  a  gamble. 
That's  the  spice  of  it.  Those  who  try  to  play  safe 
in  everything  miss  the  zest  of  life.  If  we  married, 
you  would  be  risking  something.  Perhaps  you 
would  be  disappointed  in  me.  I'm  not  the  ideal 
lover.  But  I  should  try  to  make  you  the  happiest 
woman  in  the  world.  I  should  try !" 

"It's  not  you  I'm  afraid  of — it's  myself." 

"There  will  be  three  months  in  which  to  test 
yourself." 

"Would  you  be  very  disappointed  if  I  were  to 
find  that  I  couldn't  marry  you?" 

Warde  tried  to  control  his  emotions,  but  the  lines 
of  pain  on  his  features  told  her  plainly. 

"Oh,  Hilary,  I'm  not  worth  it !" 

"You're  worth  all  that  a  man  can  give!" 

"I'm  weak  and  vain  and  selfish." 

"You're  saying  so  proves  that  you're  strong  and 
big." 

"You  carry  me  out  of  myself !" 

"Trust  to  me,  dearest." 

He  took  her  hand  and  pressed  to  his  lips  each 
separate  finger,  while  the  flood  of  love  mounted 
high  in  her  cheeks. 

Presently  he  resumed :  "You'll  write  to  me  from 
every  port,  won't  you?" 

"Yes,  I  promise." 

"And  tell  me  everything — your  plans,  your  feel- 
ings, everything?" 

She  broke  the  tension  with  a  laugh  that  rippled 
and  eddied.  "No  girl  could  promise  that  and  keep 
her  promise!" 

He  smiled  back  in  sympathy.    "I'm  too  greedy." 


100  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"You  mustn't  try  to  tie  me  until  I  come  to  you 
freely." 

"No,  I'm  prepared  to  wait." 

"I  shall  let  you  know  the  plans  of  the  cruise  and 
the  dates  we  expect  to  reach  port,  so  that  you  can 
answer  my  letters." 

"How  crude  and  clumsy  it  is — this  letter  busi- 
ness !  To  wait  six  weeks  for  an  answer.  And  then 
perhaps  my  answers  might  reach  your  port  the  day 
after  you  had  sailed  away.  When  wireless  tele- 
phony girdles  the  earth,  lovers  like  you  and  I  will 
talk  to  one  another  across  the  ocean.  My  work 
will  serve  not  only  commerce  and  diplomacy  and 
governance,  but  love  as  well!" 

The  village  clock  chiming  out  the  hour  reminded 
Eve  that  she  must  return  to  Beechhurst,  and  she 
rose  from  the  window-seat  to  say  good-by. 

"We've  never  yet  kissed,"  he  said.  "Grant  me 
a  kiss  to  carry  in  my  heart  for  these  long  weary 
months  to  come." 

She  hesitated.    "Only  one,"  was  her  condition. 

But  he  took  her  masterfully  in  his  arms  and 
kissed  her  full  upon  the  lips  again  and  again. 

Color  flooded  her  cheeks.  Her  bosom  heaved. 
She  strove  to  master  her  feelings. 

"How  beautiful  you  are!"  he  murmured  inade- 
quately, and  then  in  the  full  drive  of  passion :  "For 

you  I  would  sign  away  my  soul!" 

****** 

After  Eve  had  left,  Miss  Glenistair  came  to  her 
godson  and  looked  him  in  the  eyes  with  a  great 
tenderness  of  sympathy. 

"I  hope  indeed  that  your  hopes  will  be  fulfilled, 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  101 

dear  Hilary;  but  do  not  build  your  whole  life  on  the 
shifting  sands  of  a  woman's  feelings.  You  have 
your  work  to  do — a  great  work." 

"Love  is  the  greatest  thing  in  the  world!"  he 
declared  passionately. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THREE  MONTHS  APART 

There  ensued  for  Warde  months  of  quiet,  pur- 
poseful, uneventful  work  amongst  the  waters  of 
the  North  Sea.  He  cruised  in  slow  zig-zags  with 
an  eastward  trending,  gradually  increasing  the  dis- 
tance from  the  factory  in  London,  stretching  out 
the  spider-web  of  communication  to  eighty,  a  hun- 
dred, a  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  until  a  sudden 
change  of  weather  conditions  would  snap  the  at- 
tenuated thread  and  he  would  hasten  Londonward 
to  pick  up  the  connection  once  again. 

Stripped  of  technicalities,  Warde's  main  problem 
lay  in  this :  The  wireless  waves  went  out  in  straight 
lines,  like  the  rays  from  a  lighthouse,  whilst  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth  was  curved.  A  ship  might  be  able 
to  catch  the  lighthouse  rays  thirty  or  forty  miles  out, 
but  after  that  distance  the  bulge  of  the  earth  would 
intervene,  however  powerful  the  light  might  be. 
So  with  wireless  telephony.  Warde  was  finding  that 
with  his  present  system  a  hundred  miles  or  so  was 
the  practical  limit,  and  no  increase  of  power  from 
the  transmitting  station  or  refinement  of  apparatus 
at  the  receiving  station  could  greatly  increase  that 
limit.  Bulgrave,  with  his  shrewd  common  sense, 
had  foreseen  just  such  a  natural  stumbling-block. 

102 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  103 

But  if  Warde  could  so  take  advantage  of  the 
laws  of  nature  as  to  bend  his  ether  waves  to  the 
curvature  of  the  earth,  as  the  winds  are  bent,  then 
a  wave  could  be  sent  right  round  the  globe.  Tech- 
nically, it  was  a  "diffraction"  problem.  It  was 
necessary  for  him  to  invent  a  new  twist  to  his 
present  system,  and  on  that  he  now  contracted  all 
his  powers  of  mind  and  all  his  resources  as  an  ex- 
perimentalist. 

He  began  to  know  the  North  Sea  in  a  score  of 
moods.  In  the  laze  of  summer  calm,  when  the 
waters  drowse  glassily  and  the  heat-haze  sews  sea 
to  sky  ....  stirring  to  the  whisper  of  the  coming 
breeze  and  crinkled  like  soft  blue  lamp  shade  paper 
....  awake  and  with  wavelets  gamboling  like  kit- 
tens at  play  ....  rousing  to  the  call  of  manhood, 
with  strong,  virile  waves  setting  out  on  their  jour- 
ney to  unseen  shores  ....  driving  forward  in 
grim,  slag-gray  purpose  ....  breasting  a  cross- 
wind  that  whips  their  faces  as  though  to  drive  them 
back  from  their  goal  ....  fighting  onward  in  a 
tangle  of  great  rollers  and  lesser  waves  and  hissing, 
snaky  ripples  ....  crashing  forces  with  hostile 
waves  driven  by  the  flail  of  furious  lashing  gales 
....  thundering  out  the  mighty  harmonies  of  the 
storm  that  no  human  pen  can  put  to  paper  .... 
and  then,  on  the  morrow,  exhausted  by  the  struggle, 
the  waters  lying  prostrate,  panting  and  heaving, 
subdued  yet  never  tamed,  resting  yet  restless,  beaten 
but  to  gather  strength  for  a  generation  that  would 
fight  anew. 

An  epitome  of  the  spirit  of  man  that  drives  on 
to  progress  though  the  goal  is  unseen  and  the  ulti- 


104  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

mate  purpose  hidden;  that  meets  with  the  cross- 
winds  of  nature  and  is  whipped  back ;  that  fights  on ; 
that  is  beaten  in  the  struggle;  and  yet,  untamed, 
hands  on  the  torch  of  endeavor  to  the  generation 

that  follows. 

****** 

At  intervals  Warde  put  back  to  port  in  order  to 
receive  his  letters  and  take  on  fresh  supplies  of 
provisions. 

Eve  wrote  to  him  from  Nice,  where  she  and 
Viola  and  her  father  joined  the  Esk  yacht  party; 
from  Majorca;  from  Gibraltar;  from  Madeira;  and 
then,  after  a  weary  wait,  he  received  a  letter  from 
Buenos  Ayres. 

He  found  her  letters  vaguely  disturbing.  They 
were  too  impersonal,  too  full  of  accounts  of  sight- 
seeing, of  shipboard  amusements,  of  humorous  lit- 
tle episodes  of  travel.  They  reflected  the  Eve  of 
the  tennis  parties  and  picnics  and  surface  trivialities 
of  life.  He  wanted  to  know  of  her  inner  feelings. 
He  wanted  letters  that  no  eye  but  his  own  ought  to 
read.  He  had  hoped  that  she  would  tell  him  some- 
thing of  her  feelings  toward  Esk  and  toward  him- 
self. 

In  brief,  they  were  not  love  letters;  and  though 
he  treasured  them  for  a  scrap  here  and  there  that 
made  his  pulses  leap,  yet  they  left  him  unsatisfied 
and  with  a  feeling  of  distance  between  them  that 
was  more  than  physical.  Into  his  own  letters  he 
poured  out  his  whole  heart.  He  laid  bare  his  soul. 
Something  of  his  disappointment  crept  into  them, 
because  he  wanted  her  to  know  his  innermost  depths 
of  feeling. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  105 

Eve's  first  answer  came  from  Rio,  and  it  was 
dated  some  two  months  later  than  the  good-by 
meeting  at  Miss  Glenistair's. 

"My  dearest  Hilary,"  she  wrote,  "How  exacting 
you  are!  I  see  you  frowning  at  me  because  I 
haven't  made  my  letters  a  crazy-quilt  of  all  my  con- 
tradictory moods  and  feelings.  If  I  did,  I  doubt  if 
it  would  satisfy  you.  You  scientists  are  so  orderly 
and  logical  that  you  can't  understand  how  a  girl 
may  love  to  be  illogical.  Being  illogical  is  like  get- 
ting into  comfy  slippers  and  tea-gown  and  letting 
one's  hair  dangle. 

"Vi  is  engaged  to  Geoffrey  Armadale.  They 
seem  very  happy,  and  father  blesses  them  audibly, 
setting  them  up  as  the  model  lesson  for  myself  and 
Bee.  Geoffrey  is  so  rich  that  I  believe  he  has  a 
motor  to  match  every  suit  of  clothes. 

"I  have  the  chance  of  being  Marchioness  of  Esk, 
Countess  of  Lidderdale,  and  all  sorts  of  minor  titles, 
if  I  care  to  accept.  Francis  is  not  at  all  a  bad  sort 
when  one  comes  to  know  him — if  only  he  didn't 
wear  a  toupee ! — and  he  is  terribly  in  love  with  me. 
Everyone  expects  me  to  accept. 

"From  Buenos  Ayres  we  trained  it  over  the 
Andes  to  Valparaiso.  .  .  .  (Several  pages  of 
travel  talk  followed.) 

"But  I  have  not  committed  myself — I  mean  in 
regard  to  Francis.  Your  letters  make  me  feel  so 
glad,  and  at  the  same  time  so  unworthy.  Some- 
times I  wish  you  were  not  in  love  with  me,  nor  I 
with  you.  Love  is  so  ruthless,  so  regardless  of 
one's  normal  feelings.  Society  and  the  conventions 


106  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

of  life  tell  me  to  marry  Francis;  love  tells  me  to 
marry  you.  When  I  sit  in  a  deck-chair  in  the  moon- 
light and  he  sits  beside  and  talks  to  me,  I  say  to 
myself:  'If  only  he  were  you!  If  only  you  were 
the  Marquis  of  Esk!' 

"A  letter  by  return  to  Jamaica  might  reach  me, 
but  I'm  not  sure.  We  may  be  back  in  England 
within  a  fortnight  of  the  arrival  of  this  letter. 

"Sometimes  I  long  for  this  cruise  to  end,  so  that 
I  might  be  back  with  you — (Warde  kissed  the 
words) — and  sometimes  I  long  for  the  cruise  to 
continue  forever,  so  that  I  might  learn  to  forget 
you.  But  you  fill  my  thoughts,  crowding  out  the 
rest  of  the  world.  You  would  feel  very  flattered  if 
I  told  you  what  I  had  done  with  your  letters. 

"How  I  ramble  on!  Perhaps  you  see  now  what 
an  unorderly  girl  you  are  placing  on  your  pedestal. 

"Francis  is  coming  along  the  deck  with  the 
'gathering'  look  in  his  eye.  I'm  to  be  whirled 
away  for  a  jaunt  over  the  harbor  or  up  to  the  moun- 
tains. Good-by  for  the  moment,  dear  Hilary!  A 
kiss  (only  one  this  time). 

"From 

"EVE." 

That,  much  more  than  the  former  letters,  was 
what  Warde  had  been  hoping  for,  yet  still  it  left 
him  unsatisfied.  Eve  had  not  yet  "found  herself" — 
she  had  not  yet  made  her  decision.  He  was  racked 
with  the  torments  of  uncertainty.  Suppose  that  the 
allurements  of  the  material  advantages  Esk  could 
offer  her,  together  with  the  urgings  of  her  family 
and  the  tacit  advice  of  her  circle,  were  to  weigh 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  107 

with  her  against  love  and  the  gamble  of  Warde's 
career  ? 

Toward  the  end  of  September,  near  to  the  time 
when  the  Esk  party  were  expected  back  in  Eng- 
land, Warde  left  the  schooner  in  harbor  at 
Burnham-on-Crouch,  and  went  to  London  to  con-s 
suit  a  lawyer.  He  wanted  a  draft  agreement  of 
partnership  drawn  up,  so  that  he  could  present 
it  to  Burgrave  and  make  a  definite  settlement  for 
the  future. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

AN    APPROACH    TO    PARADINE 

Burgrave  examined  the  partnership  document 
very  carefully,  very  methodically.  "Ye've  had  a 
good  lawyer  to  draw  this  up,"  was  his  comment. 

"Yes,"  answered  Warde  readily.  "I  know  very 
little  about  legal  technicalities,  and  care  less,  so  I 
took  the  matter  to  the  best  firm  I  could  hear  of." 

"A  first-class  lawyer,"  continued  Burgrave  dryly. 
"He's  assigned  to  ye  about  four  times  as  much  as 
any  business  man  would  care  to  yield." 

"Then  will  you  mark  the  clauses  you  object  to?" 

"It  would  be  a  waste  of  good  pencil,  lad.  This 
whole  agreement  is  impossible." 

"Mr.  Burgrave,  I'm  going  to  be  very  frank  with 
you.  I  need  a  partnership  agreement  vitally,  be- 
cause— because  I'm  hoping  to  get  engaged.  Her 
father  looks  down  on  my  position  as  a  salaried  em- 
ployee, and  he's  urging  his  daughter  to  refuse  me 
and  accept  an  offer  from  a  man  of  title  and  large 
income.  The  position  is  a  very  delicate  one,  and 
I  need  to  show  him  my  prospects  in  plain  black  and 
white.  You  understand  now  why  I'm  bringing  this 
draft  agreement  to  you?" 

"May  Ah  ask  who  he  is  ?" 
108 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  109 

"Lord  Merenthorpe — the  Merenthorpes  of  Beech- 
hurst." 

"And  your  rival?" 

"The  Marquis  of  Esk." 

"Does  she  love  ye?" 

"Yes." 

"And  she's  of  age?" 

"Yes." 

"Then  why  doesn't  she  become  engaged  to  ye 
and  wait  patiently  until  ye're  in  a  position  to 
marry?" 

"It's  a  big  temptation  to  become  Marchioness  of 
Esk." 

"That  weighs  with  her?" 

"I  gather  so." 

"Then,  lad,  ye're  in  love  with  the  wrong  girl." 

Warde  flushed  and  retorted:  "That,  Mr.  Bur- 
grave,  is  not  your  concern!" 

"Lad,  Ah'm  thinking  of  your  interests  as  well  as 
my  own.  Ye  remember  I  warned  ye — before  ye 
went  to  Berlin — to  keep  away  from  women.  Even 
the  best  of  them  can  ruin  a  man's  career." 

"I  need  her!" 

"But,  from  what  ye  tell  me,  she  doesn't  need 
you." 

"It's  her  people  who  are  urging  her  into  this  mar- 
riage. It's  an  arranged  affair." 

"So  are  most  marriages  in  that  class  of  society." 

"I  can  win  her  away." 

"As  Ah  understand  it,  the  father  is  asking  ye  to 
empty  your  money-bags  into  the  scale  against  the 
Marquis  of  Esk's.  Lad,  I'm  really  sorry  to  hear  of 
this!  Ye  ought  to  have  kept  away  from  those 


110  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

people.  It's  a  losing  game  for  such  as  ye.  Don't 
think  that  Ah  don't  value  your  abilities,  lad,  for 
Ah  do  and  highly — and  what's  more,  Ah  trust  ye." 

"Then  will  you  give  me  a  partnership  agree- 
ment?" 

"Not  this  one."  Burgrave  laid  his  hand  firmly 
on  the  typewritten  sheets.  It  would  mean  that 
ye're  asking  me  to  buy  a  wife  for  ye.  Would  your 
pride  let  ye  do  that?" 

"Then  you  consider  it  an  unfair  agreement?" 

"Ah  do!  It's  the  lawyer's  agreement — not  an 
honest  man's  bond." 

"What  would  you  consider  fair?' 

"Something  like  this.  Let  us  take  the  work  ye've 
done  already  as  a  fair  return  for  your  salary.  So 
far  your  work  has  not  brought  me  in  a  penny  nor 
a  patent-right,  and  Ah've  spent  a  lot  of  money  on 
the  apparatus  and  the  bungalow  at  Saltness  and  the 
yacht  and  all  the  assistants  ye've  needed.  Suppose 
we  say  that  at  the  moment  the  score  is  even  between 
us,  and  start  fresh  for  the  future.  Ah  propose  to 
put  twenty  thousand  pounds  and  your  future  salary 
in  the  pool.  If  ye  will  put  in  twenty  thousand 
pounds,  Ah  will  give  ye  a  half  interest  in  everything 
connected  with  our  wireless  telephony." 

"That's  out  of  the  question.  I  couldn't  possibly 
raise  twenty  thousand  pounds." 

"If  ye  put  in  ten  thousand,"  continued  Burgrave, 
"Ah  will  give  ye  a  third  interest.  If  five  thousand, 
a  fifth  interest." 

"I  haven't  the  money." 

"If  two  thousand,  an  eleventh  interest,  and  your 
salary  in  any  case." 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  111 

"I  might  be  able  to  put  in  two  thousand,  but  a 
partnership  like  that  would  mean  nothing  to  Lord 
Merenthorpe." 

"Then  don't  ye  see,  lad,  that  what  ye're  asking 
me  is  in  plain  words  to  buy  ye  a  wife?" 

Burgrave's  tone  was  kindly.  It  bit  into  Warde 
far  more  deeply  than  harsh  opposition  would  have 
done.  He  could  not  help  but  see  the  reasonable- 
ness of  Burgrave's  attitude;  the  partnership  interest 
to  be  in  proportion  to  the  monetary  risk,  the  most 
usual  form  of  business  agreement. 

After  some  thought  he  answered:  "I  will  see 
what  money  I  can  raise." 

"Good.  I'm  ready  to  back  your  abilities  at  the 
present  moment  for  twenty  thousand  pounds.  If 
ye  can  find  someone  else  to  back  ye  for,  say,  ten 
thousand  pounds,  then  ye  will  have  a  third  interest 
and  a  partnership  agreement  that  Lord  Merenthorpe 
will  not  sneer  at." 

"I'll  see  what  can  be  done." 

Warde  had  never  before  looked  at  finance  from  a 
personal  point  of  view.  He  had  always  taken  it 
for  granted  that  if  he  supplied  the  scientific  knowl- 
edge and  research  abilities,  someone  else  would 
supply  the  needed  money.  In  the  fashion  of  the 
scientist,  he  had  never  regarded  money  as  on  the 
same  plane  of  value  as  brains  and  character.  But 
now  it  was  being  driven  home  to  him  in  very  per- 
sonal fashion  that  money  is  not  only  a  great  factor 
in  establishing  a  business  or  an  invention,  but  also 
a  great  factor  in  establishing  a  man.  Merenthorpe, 
Burgrave,  Paradine,  Miss  Glenistair,  in  their  several 
and  highly  different  fashions,  had  told  him  the  same 


112  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

thing.  Without  money  he  was  a  nobody  in  the 
eyes  of  the  vast  majority  of  the  unthinking  world. 
They  assessed  his  worth  as  a  man  largely  by  the 
wealth  he  could  display.  That  would  be  material 
proof  for  a  highly  material  world. 

To  make  money  he  needed  a  nucleus  of  money. 
It  bred.  It  was  the  golden  egg  that  hatched  out 
into  a  hen  that  laid  a  score  of  other  golden  eggs. 
He  must  have  stock  to  breed  from. 

Warde  started  to  review  his  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances from  the  lending  aspect.  It  did  not  take  him 
long  to  discover  that  while  a  few  would  help  him  on 
the  scale  of  hundreds,  there  was  no  one  he  could 
approach  on  the  scale  of  thousands  except  Sir  Wil- 
mer  Paradine.  The  latter  was  a  wealthy  man ;  be- 
lieved in  Warde's  abilities;  realized  the  future  for 
wireless  telephony. 

Without  hesitation,  Warde  telephoned  to  Sir  Wil- 
mer's  London  flat,  in  order  to  make  an  appointment. 
The  butler  answered  that  his  master  was  away.  No, 
he  was  not  at  liberty  to  give  the  address.  Would 
he  forward  a  telegram,  asked  Warde.  Yes,  he  could 
do  that.  Then  wire  as  follows :  "Wish  to  meet  you 
on  an  important  business  matter.  If  you  can  see 
me,  will  travel  at  once." 

In  the  course  of  the  day  an  answer  came  from 
Brussels,  addressed  from  a  house  in  the  Avenue 
Louise  quarter,  86B  Rue  Mazarin.  Warde  started 
for  Brussels  by  the  night  train,  leaving  his  work  and 
sending  a  message  to  the  skipper  of  the  yacht  to 
remain  at  Burnham. 

The  address  in  the  Rue  Mazarin  proved  to  be  a 
block  of  flats,  substantial  and  moneyed,  and  as  the 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  113 

letter  B  indicated,  Paradine's  suite  was  on  the  first 
floor.  When  Warde  was  shown  into  the  elabor- 
ately furnished  drawing-room,  the  reason  for  the 
secrecy  of  the  address  was  apparent  in  evidences  of 
feminine  occupation. 

Paradine  made  no  attempt  to  disguise  the  affaire. 
"I  don't  want  everyone  to  know  why  I  am  in 
Brussels,"  he  remarked  with  the  easy  smile  of  the 
man  of  the  world.  "Of  course  I  can  rely  on  your 
discretion." 

Warde  nodded.    "Naturally." 

"Make  yourself  comfortable,"  suggested  the  host, 
moving  an  armchair  nearer  to  the  Louis  Quinze 
escritoire,  and  producing  cigars  and  whiskey. 

An  inner  door  opened,  and  a  tall,  handsome 
woman  appeared  in  a  billow  of  filmy  negligee. 
Scent  and  the  indefinable  artificiality  of  the  actress 
emanated  from  her. 

"Dis  done,  Wilmer,  quand  seras-tu  fini?"  she 
asked  with  a  quick  side-glance  at  Warde. 

"Impossible  de  dire,  ma  mie.  Peut-etre  une 
heure.  Occupe-tio  avec  un  roman,"  replied  Para- 
dine,  not  offering  an  introduction.  The  lady 
shrugged  her  handsome  shoulders  and  disappeared 
into  the  inner  room. 

"Clothilde  de  Sevaistre,"  mentioned  Paradine 
with  a  slight  tinge  of  conquest  in  his  tone.  "One 
of  the  bright  stars  of  the  Brussels  firmament.  She 
can  act  as  well  as  look  handsome." 

"I've  heard  the  name." 

Paradine  passed  the  cigar-box,  and  when  cigars 
were  full  alight  asked:  "An  important  business 
matter?" 


114  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"Yes.  You  remember  that  some  time  ago  you 
suggested  financing  me?" 

"You  refused  it." 

"Nevertheless  your  words  went  home  to  me. 
Since  then  I've  been  thinking  very  seriously  over 
the  financial  side  of  wireless  telephony,  and  over 
my  own  prospects,  and  I've  discussed  both  of  them 
with  Burgrave." 

"Glad  to  hear  it.  What  conclusions  have  you 
come  to  ?' 

"That  I  can't  continue  as  a  salaried  employee.  I 
must  have  a  partnership  interest." 

"Very  sensible.    And  what  does  Burgrave  say?" 

"He's  willing,  provided  I  can  supply  some  capi- 
tal— my  interest  in  the  eventual  profits  to  be  in 
proportion  to  the  amount  I  put  in  the  pool." 

"Burgrave  is  canny." 

"I  realize  his  point  of  view.    It's  not  unfair." 

"How  much  do  you  propose  to  put  in?" 

"I  want  ten  thousand.  I've  already  raised  two 
thousand." 

"And  the  rest?" 

"That's  what  I've  come  to  discuss  with  you." 

Paradine  puffed  on  his  cigar  and  thoughtfully 
surveyed  a  desk  calendar — a  needlessly  elaborate 
affair  where  two  heavy  gilt  lions  supported  an 
inadequate  burden.  Underneath  his  calm  outward 
demeanor  there  lay  a  keen  sense  of  exhilaration: 
the  seeds  he  had  so  carefully  planted  in  the  receptive 
soil  of  Warde's  mind, were  now  showing  their  first 
leaves  to  the  light.  He  must  place  a  cloche  over  the 
tender  young  plant. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  115 

"I  would  like  to  ask  you  a  very  personal  ques- 
tion." 

"Yes?" 

"Are  you  engaged  to  Eve  Merenthorpe  ?" 

Warde  flushed  in  spite  of  himself  as  he  answered 
with  level  voice :  "No,  not  definitely." 

"A  charming  girl,"  mused  Paradine.  "She 
would  make  an  admirable  wife  for  a  young  man  of 
ambition." 

He  paused  to  allow  Warde  the  opportunity  for 
confidences  on  the  subject,  but  as  the  latter  said 
nothing,  he  continued:  "I  expect  she  will  soon  be 
returning  from  the  South  American  cruise." 

"In  a  few  days'  time." 

"Merenthorpe  also?" 

"I  expect  so." 

"In  the  meantime  you  want  to  strengthen  your 
own  financial  position?" 

"I  want  to  settle  my  future  prospects,  so  that  I 
can  get  back  undisturbed  to  my  work." 

"Progressing  well?" 

"Excellently." 

"What  distance  can  you  cover?" 

"That's  a  secret  of  the  firm,  Sir  Wilmer.  We 
haven't  patented  yet,  and  naturally  we  have  to  keep 
results  very  quiet." 

"I  don't  wish  to  intrude  into  your  private  af- 
fairs." 

Again  he  paused,  and  this  time  Warde  was  forced 
to  resume  the  initiative. 

"I'm  wondering  if  you  could  help  me  to  raise  the 
money  I  need,"  he  ventured. 


116  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"I  might  be  able  to.  What  is  your  idea  regard- 
ing security?" 

"I  should  expect  to  return,  say,  ten  per  cent. 
per  annum  on  the  money  advanced  to  me  for  the 
non-productive  period,  and  a  larger  percentage  when 
our  wireless  telephony  was  on  a  commercial  pay- 
ing basis." 

"Yes— but  security?" 

"It's  personal.  Myself.  My  character  and  abili- 
ties. I  know  you  realize  what  a  magnificent  future 
lies  before  wireless  telephony,  and  you  know  some- 
thing also  of  my  own  qualifications." 

Paradine  smiled — a  friendly,  confidential  smile. 
"You  are  asking  me  to  gamble  on  your  and  Bur- 
grave's  business,  where  I  should  have  no  control 
over  expenditure  or  policy,  and  where  I  do  not  even 
know  how  far  you  have  progressed." 

"It  would  be  a  sporting  risk,  of  course." 

"So  many  sporting  risks  are  offered  to  me.  I 
am  asked,  for  instance,  to  buy  a  theater  here  in 
Brussels  and  finance  a  new  light  opera." 

Warde  frowned  involuntarily  at  the  comparison 
suggested.  He  thought  of  the  woman  in  the  billow 
of  filmy  negligee.  Light  opera  and  wireless  tele- 
phony— it  was  an  insult  to  place  them  on  the  same 
level. 

Paradine,  guessing  his  thoughts,  continued:  "I 
mention  this  merely  because  you  asked  me  to  in- 
dulge in  a  blind  gamble.  If  I  wanted  such  a  gamble, 
I  could  find  it  in  a  dozen  different  directions.  But 
if  you  were  asking  me  to  finance  you  on  a  definite 
business  proposition,  that  would  be  very  different. 
My  life  has  been  spent  in  developing  businesses  of 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  117 

an  unusual  nature.  I  love  the  work.  It  appeals 
to  my  temperament." 

"Then  you  like  the  idea  of  bringing  wireless 
telephony  to  the  commercial  stage?" 

"Decidedly!  That  is  why  I  approached  you  in 
the  first  instance." 

Warde  considered  a  few  moments  before  he  re- 
sumed: "I'm  at  liberty  to  tell  you  this  without 
breaking  confidences.  Our  system  is  ahead  of  any 
other  at  the  present  moment.  Even  such  a  big  firm 
as  Rademeyer,  Schultz  and  Maccallum  are  afraid  of 
us.  But  that's  not  enough.  We  are  up  against  a 
natural  law  which  prevents  communication  over 
more  than  a  certain  distance.  Recently — during  the 
last  month,  in  fact — I've  been  experimenting  in  a 
new  direction,  and  I  believe  I've  hit  on  a  develop- 
ment which  will  allow  us  to  bend  the  wireless  waves 
to  the  curvature  of  the  earth " 

Paradine  nodded  comprehension. 

"And  send  them  right  round  the  globe." 

"Excellent!" 

"Distance  will  only  be  a  question  of  sufficient 
power  at  the  transmitting  station  ajid  sufficiently 
delicate  apparatus  at  the  receiving  station." 

"I  follow.  Does  anyone  know  of  these  experi- 
ments ?" 

"Burgrave,  of  course,  but  only  in  a  general  way." 

"If  I  were  you,  I  should  keep  them  strictly  to 
myself  until  the  system  were  ready  for  patenting." 

"It's  still  in  a  state  of  flux." 

"How  long  do  you  reckon  this  experimental  stage 
will  continue?" 


118  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"Difficult  to  say.  I'm  working  in  an  entirely 
uncharted  region.  Some  months,  at  all  events." 

"I'm  extremely  interested  in  what  you  tell  me. 
You  are  now  showing  me  something  of  a  definite 
business  proposition.  Only  the  outside — but  still, 
something.  I  must  think  over  the  suggestion  of 
financing  you." 

"That's  most  kind  of  you." 

"You  want  eight  thousand  pounds  on  a  personal 
guarantee,  paying  interest  at  ten  per  cent." 

"Yes — and,  say,  fifteen  per  cent  after  the  pro- 
duction stage.  With  my  ten  thousand  pounds,  I 
should  have  a  one-third  interest  in  the  concern." 

"I'll  think  it  over." 

"Many  thanks,  Sir  Wilmer!"  said  Warde  cor- 
dially. 

"Another  point:  can  I  do  anything  for  you  in, 
regard  to  Merenthorpe?" 

"How  do  you  mean?' 

"It's  reasonable  to  imagine  that  he  does  not  look 
on  you  very  favorably  as  a  possible  son-in-law." 

"I'm  afraid  so,"  confessed  Warde. 

"There's  Esk." 

"Yes." 

"Now  a  word  from  me  would  carry  weight  with 
Merenthorpe.  If  I  were  to  tell  him  that  I  think 
very  highly  of  your  future,  and  were  risking  money 
on  you,  it  would  undoubtedly  influence  his  views. 
Shall  I  do  so?" 

"That's  extremely  kind  of  you!" 

"Not  at  all!  I'm  very  interested  in  you.  .  .  . 
Have  another  whiskey?" 

That  was  a  polite  signal  to  terminate  the  inter- 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  119 

view,  and  Warde  did  not  further  press  his  points 
or  occupy  his  host's  time.  He  took  his  leave,  and 
with  the  feeling  that  he  was  treading  on  air,  walked 
briskly  down  the  boulevards  to  the  Gare  du  Nord 
and  caught  the  first  train  back  to  London. 

The  situation  was  clearing;  by  the  time  Eve  had 
returned,  he  would  have  made  a  big  improvement 
to  his  material  position,  and  Lord  Merenthorpe 
would  be  regarding  him  in  a  new  and  more  favor- 
able light. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

In  Paradine's  suite  of  apartments,  the  handsome 
woman  in  the  negligee  was  laying  a  soft  caressing 
hand  on  his  cheek  and  smiling  into  his  eyes. 

"Tu  m'acheteras  le  theatre  cheri?"  she  purred. 

"J'y  penserai,"  was  Paradine's  answer. 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE  TOAST 

As  a  last  perfect  finishing  touch  to  a  cruise  which 
had  formed  a  master-picture  of  the  luxuries  which 
money  can  buy,  tempered  by  the  restraint  of  cul- 
tured taste,  Lord  Esk  had  landed  his  yacht  party 
at  Plymouth  and  taken  them  to  London  by  a  special 
train  of  Pullman  cars — flowered  by  a  Bond  Street 
florist  and  staffed  by  his  own  chef  and  corps  of 
assistants. 

He  had  timed  the  railway  journey  for  a  farewell 
dinner.  It  was  a  set  banquet  with  a  list  of  toasts 
and  speeches — congratulations,  mutual  good  wishes, 
a  revue  of  the  incidents  and  humors  of  the  cruise. 
They  were  speeding  Londonward  through  the 
darkness  to  disperse  to  their  respective  homes,  and 
now  they  exchanged  their  thanks  and  their  wishes 
for  the  future,  making  a  perfect  rounding  to  the 
months  of  continuous  enjoyment.  At  the  end  of  the 
toast-list  was  "Our  Host,"  proposed  by  Lord  Mer- 
enthorpe,  and  the  speech  in  reply.  Rounds  of  ap- 
plause punctuated  Merenthorpe's  highly  correct  and 
impeccably  conventional  remarks,  ending  with  the 
inevitable  "For  he's  a  jolly  good  fel-low!" 

Then  Lord  Esk  rose — a  trifle  unsteadily,  because 
he  had  not  spared  the  wine  and  champagne,  flushed 

120 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  121 

with  the  pride  of  wealth  and  position  and  the 
announcement  he  had  kept  secret  for  his  dramatic 
moment,  yet  a  figure  of  power  and  command. 

"Friends  all,"  he  said,  "I  thank  you  from  the 
bottom  of  my  heart  for  all  your  good  wishes.  I  am 
indeed  glad  that  my  humble  efforts  have  contributed 
to  your  enjoyment  of  the  moment  and  the  memories 
which  you  will  carry  away  for  the  future.  I  am 
glad  to  be  able  to  congratulate  Armadale  on  the 
winning  of  a  most  charming,  most  delightful  wife. 
But  you  will  excuse  my  egotism,  I  am  sure,  when  I 
tell  you  that  I  am  still  more  glad  to  ask  you  to 
charge  your  glasses  for  one  further  toast" — he 
paused,  and  his  eye  fixed  itself  on  Eve  at  the  fur- 
ther end  of  the  table — "I  ask  you  to  join  me  in 
wishing  all  happiness  to  Eve,  future  Marchioness  of 
Esk !  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  to  Eve !" 

The  announcement  came  upon  them  all  as  a  com- 
plete surprise.  No  one  knew  that  Eve  had,  before 
breakfast  on  that  morning,  given  her  answer  to 
Esk.  At  his  special  request,  she  had  mentioned  it 
to  no  one,  so  that  he  might  have  the  satisfaction  of 
making  his  news  the  clou  of  the  farewell  dinner. 

There  were  shouts  of  surprise  and  congratula- 
tion. 

"Eve!  Eve!"  they  exclaimed;  drank  the  toast; 
and  then  broke  up  to  make  their  good  wishes  direct. 

Pale  and  trembling,  Eve  found  herself  the  center 
of  the  group.  Throughout  the  day  she  had  been 
strangely  silent  and  dazed,  scarcely  realizing  all  that 
was  involved  by  her  answer  to  Esk  on  the  deck  of 
the  yacht  in  the  early  morning,  when  the  rugged 
cliffs  of  Land's  End,  faintly  seen  on  the  far  horizon, 


122  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

had  told  the  end  of  the  voyage.  The  others  of  the 
yacht  party,  preoccupied  with  their  packing  and 
the  excitements  of  landfall  and  disembarking,  had 
scarcely  noticed  her  unusual  mood. 

Though  she  had  said  "Yes"  to  his  proposal,  it 
had  been  dragged  from  her.  He  had  been  careful 
to  let  her  understand  that  it  was  a  final  proposal. 
Without  putting  it  into  so  many  words,  he  had 
made  clear  that  it  was  a  case  of  "take  or  leave"; 
that  what  he  had  to  give  was  too  valuable  to  be 
cheapened  by  persistent  offering;  that  there  were 
many  other  girls  and  women  in  the  society  world 
who  would  jump  at  such  a  chance.  It  was,  perhaps, 
the  sight  of  the  Cornish  cliffs  in  the  far  distance, 
over  the  port  bow,  that  had  given  the  overbalancing 
impulse.  They  marked  inexorably  the  end  of  this 
fairyland  cruise.  In  a  few  hours  she  would  be  back 
to  the  realities  of  the  ordinary,  everyday  English 
life.  No  further  postponement  of  her  answer  was 
possible.  The  breakfast  bugle  would  presently  ring 
down  the  curtain  on  the  scene,  and  if  she  said  "No," 
it  was  "No"  for  finality. 

So  Eve,  torn  in  mind,  not  having  "found  herself," 
had  given  her  assent. 

Then  rushed  back  on  her  the  thought  of  Warde. 
It  was  betrayal.  She  had  asked  for  three  months 
to  allow  her  feelings  toward  him  and  toward  Esk 
to  crystallize  into  certainty,  with  the  implication 
that  if  her  love  for  Warde  had  not  diminished,  she 
would  accept  him.  As  matters  stood,  distance  and 
time  had  accentuated  rather  than  slurred  over; 
while  for  Esk,  her  utmost  range  of  feeling  was  a 
tolerance  of  companionship.  The  disparity  in  age — 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  123 

52  to  21 — and  Esk's  complacent  assumption  that 
his  wealth  and  inheritance  of  title  must  give  him 
all  he  reached  his  hand  for,  jarred  against  her.  To 
accept  Esk  was  to  betray  Warde,  and  yet  she  had 
accepted.  In  the  midst  of  a  buzz  of  congratulation 
that  followed  on  the  last  toast  of  the  dinner,  Eve 
realized  that  she  had  thrown  away  something  of  her 
self-respect. 

Lord  Merenthorpe  was  vastly  pleased,  though  he 
cloaked  it  with  an  affectation  of  regret. 

"Too  bad  of  you,"  he  told  Esk.  "Eve  is  the 
apple  of  my  eye.  I  shall  miss  her  terribly.  Beech- 
hurst  will  never  be  the  same  to  me  without  Eve." 

Esk  replied  with  a  similar  hypocrisy  of  conven- 
tion. 

The  Merenthorpes  intended  to  take  a  town  house 
in  Mayfair  for  the  winter  season,  but  the  agree- 
ment was  waiting  for  Lord  Merenthorpe's  approval 
on  his  return  from  the  cruise.  In  the  meantime, 
Viola,  Eve  and  their  father  continued  their  train 
journey  to  Maidstone,  arriving  home  late  at  night 
for  the  delighted  congratulations  of  Lady  Meren- 
thorpe and  the  pert  flippancies  of  Beatrice. 


"My  dearest  Hilary,"  wrote  Miss  Glenistair  to 
her  godson,  "I  am  wondering  if  you  have  heard 
already  that  the  Merenthorpes  are  home  again  from 
their  cruise,  and  that  Eve  is  definitely  engaged  to 
Lord  Esk  ?  I  wish,  dear,  that  I  were  not  the  bearer 
of  such  distressing  news,  for  I  realize  how  deeply 
you  are  attached  to  Eve.  It  will  wound  you  sorely, 
I  know,  but  you  will  take  it  with  a  man's  strength 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 


and  courage,  and  strive  not  to  let  it  rankle  and 
fester  and  corrupt  the  life  you  have  planned  for 
yourself. 

"We  should  not  blame  Eve  —  she  has  had  a  very 
worldly  environment  all  her  life,  and  the  allure- 
ments of  such  a  proposal  would  tempt  most  girls. 
That  she  was  deeply  in  love  with  you  I  have  seen 
for  myself,  but  the  temptation  has  been  too  much 
for  her. 

"I  wish  I  could  help  you,  dear  Hilary,  to  bear  this 
blow.  Do  not  let  it  spoil  the  big  work  of  your  life; 
remember  that  I  expect  great  things  from  you. 

"'Does  the  road  wind  uphill  all  the  way? 

Yes,  to  the  very  end. 

Will  the  day's  journey  take  the  whole  long  day? 
From  morn  to  night,  my  friend.' 

"Come  to  see  me  soon." 

This  letter  was  in  the  mail  which  Warde  picked 
up  at  Burnham.  To  say  that  he  was  stunned  by 
the  news  would  scarcely  express  his  state  of  mind  — 
he  felt  as  though  he  had  been  tripped  and  thrown 
to  the  pavement,  and  a  throng  of  people  were  press- 
ing forward  over  his  prostrate  body,  careless  of  the 
object  they  kicked  and  pushed  aside.  With  Eve's 
letter  from  Rio  and  her  later  cable  from  Jamaica 
in  his  pocket,  both  giving  him  hope  and  almost 
promise,  he  had  never  dreamt  that  she  would  make 
an  abrupt  decision  without  first  letting  him  know 
her  reasons.  Had  some  unexpected  circumstances 
arisen  to  induce  her  to  accept  Esk?  Why  had  she 
not  written  to  him,  instead  of  leaving  him  to  hear 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  125 

the  news  from  an  outside  source?  Could  a  letter 
from  her  have  gone  astray  ?  He  asked  the  postmis- 
tress at  Burnham  to  search  again  in  her  poste 
restante  boxes,  but  no  further  letter  for  him  came 
to  light. 

He  wired  to  Eve :  "Very  disappointed  to  receive 
no  letter  from  you.  Has  it  gone  astray?  Have 
heard  the  news  from  elsewhere.  Please  wire." 

The  answer  came:  "Must  see  you  to  explain. 
Will  be  in  London  to-morrow.  Can  you  meet  me 
in  Kensington  Gardens,  three-thirty,  by  Peter  Pan 
statue?" 

Warde  wired  agreement,  and  leaving  his  yacht 
once  more  amongst  the  hibernating  pleasure-craft 
and  the  sturdy  oyster-boats  of  Burnham,  traveled 
straight  up  to  town  by  an  evening  train.  Work 
was  impossible  in  his  present  frame  of  mind.  He 
had  never  realized  till  now  how  insidiously  his  pas- 
sion had  gripped  hold  of  him,  groping  with  its  ten- 
tacles until  it  had  caught  and  bound  his  very  soul. 
For  the  first  time  in  his  life  he  was  angry  with  his 
godmother.  She  was  asking  him  to  accept  supinely 
the  abrupt,  inexplicable  decision  of  Eve — to  take  it 
"lying  down."  Every  fiber  in  him  rebelled.  He 
was  no  longer  sane  and  normal.  The  world  that 
mattered  had  shrunk  to  the  compass  of  one  girl. 
She  stood  to  him  as  mistress  of  life — arbiter  of 
destiny.  Without  Eve,  the  earth  was  inhabited  only 
by  remote,  unsympathetic,  repellent  creatures.  All 
the  ugliness  and  meanness  and  pettiness  of  men  and 
women  seemed  to  leap  out  at  him  from  the  faces 
of  a  London  crowd.  He  felt  in  himself  the  savage 
who  runs  amuck,  slaying  and  maiming — a  revelation 


126  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

of  the  ground-depths  of  a  man's  hidden  emotions 
which  made  him  for  the  time  being  hate  himself. 
He  was  torn  into  conflicting  personalities,  the  one 
passing  judgment  on  the  other. 

That  part  of  his  mind  which  stood  for  normality 
sent  him  to  a  chemist's  to  buy  sleep. 

In  the  early  morning,  the  sudden  fancy  came  to 
him  to  bathe  in  the  Serpentine.  He  found  himself 
in  a  strange  little  world  of  faddists,  young  and 
middle-aged  and  old,  who  take  a  curious  pride  in 
repairing  to  the  Serpentine  morning  after  morning 
in  all  weathers,  seeking  to  build  up  "records."  Sev- 
eral spoke  to  him,  as  to  a  novitiate  in  a  brother- 
hood, quite  eager  to  claim  him  as  a  fellow-spirit 
and  to  enlighten  him  of  the  joys  of  breaking  ice  in 
midwinter  for  a  morning  plunge.  This  na'ive  fel- 
lowship pleased  him;  and  the  chill  of  the  October 
water  and  wind  made  him  tingle  in  every  limb. 
Dressing,  he  felt  refreshed  in  mind  as  well  as  body, 
and  almost  normal  again. 

He  put  in  the  morning  at  the  works  in  East  Lon- 
don, giving  directions  for  the  making  of  a  new  type 
of  transmitter  which  would  automatically  indicate 
the  wave-length  of  the  ether  waves  it  was  flicking 
into  space. 

Shortly  after  the  appointed  hour,  Eve  stepped 
from  a  taxi  at  the  Lancaster  Gate  entrance  to  the 
Gardens,  and  walked  quickly  to  the  rendezvous. 
Warde  was  already  there,  studying  with  apparent 
absorption  the  fairies  and  squirrels  and  mice  and 
birds  sculptured  round  the  base  of  the  Peter  Pan 
statue. 

Their    greeting    was    formal    and    constrained. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  127 

Warde,  master  of  himself  for  the  moment,  waited 
until  Eve  should  speak  freely  to  him  at  her  own 
good  time.  Eve  was  palpably  nervous  and  ill  at 
ease. 

"I've  left  mother  and  Vi  being  fitted  in  Bond 
Street,"  she  explained  hurriedly.  "I  made  an  excuse 
to  get  away.  I'm  to  meet  them  again  at  our  jew- 
eler's." 

"Then  you  can't  give  me  very  long?" 

"No,  I'm  afraid  not." 

"The  wind  is  cold.     Shall  we  walk?" 

"Yes — toward  town." 

He  set  his  pace  to  hers,  and  they  walked  briskly 
eastward  toward  Hyde  Park  and  Mayfair.  The 
sky  was  gray.  A  chill  October  wind  was  blow- 
ing, stirring  up  the  fallen  leaves  and  sending  them 
scurrying  like  droves  of  tiny  brown  rodents.  Iron 
chairs,  piled  up  to  be  carted  away  for  the  winter, 
seemed  to  be  huddling  together  for  mutual  warmth. 
The  water-fowl  of  the  Long  Water  kept  under 
cover  of  the  bushes,  tucking  their  heads  sideways 
into  their  plumage.  There  came  to  Warde  in  a 
sudden  flash  of  memory  the  plaintive  sing-song  of  a 
German  waiting-maid  at  a  deserted  summer  restau- 
rant in  the  Hartz  Mountains.  "Sommer  ist  schon 
vorbei,"  she  had  lamented. 

His  summer  too  was  past. 

Presently  Eve  said  with  nervous  abruptness :  "I 
couldn't  put  it  into  a  letter." 

"You  left  me  to  hear  the  news  from  others,"  he 
answered. 

"I  wrote  a  dozen  beginnings,  and  tore  them  all 
up.  I  had  to  see  you  to  explain." 


128  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"I  want  to  know  first  one  thing :  do  you  care  for 
Esk?  If  you  care  for  him  more  than  for  me, 
everything  else  is  side-issue." 

"Must  I  answer  that?" 

"If  you  will." 

"You  know  the  answer,"  she  said  in  a  low  voice. 

He  stopped  abruptly,  so  that  Eve  too  was  forced 
to  stop.  She  threw  her  gray  fur  stole  closer  around 
her  neck,  as  though  in  some  way  it  were  protective 
against  Warde. 

"Then  why ?"  he  demanded. 

"It's  not  simple  to  explain.  I  hardly  know  my- 
self just  why  I  accepted.  It  was  the  end  of  the 
voyage — Land's  End  was  in  sight,  over  the  port 
bow.  The  breakfast  bugle  would  be  sounding  in 
a  few  moments.  I  saw  the  bugler  looking  at  the 
ship's  clock.  He — Francis — let  me  know  that  this 
was  the  last  time  he  wculd  ask  me.  Oh,  can't  you 
realize  it — to  have  one's  whole  life  depending  on  a 
yes  or  no!  I  don't  think  a  man  ever  has  such  a 
decision  to  make!" 

"But  you  don't  care  for  him?"  returned  Warde 
doggedly,  harking  back  to  what  was  in  his  eyes  the 
crux  of  the  question. 

"That  isn't  the  whole  consideration  in  marriage," 
protested  Eve. 

"Surely  the  chief?" 

"Hilary,  do  try  to  realize  a  girl's  viewpoint! 
For  a  man,  marriage  is  an  annexe  to  his  work ;  but 
for  a  girl  marriage  is  a  career." 

"Then  you've  found  the  career  you  were  looking 
for,  but  couldn't  find?" 

Her  eyes  brightened  suddenly.    "Yes,  that  makes 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  129 

it  clearer!  I'm  beginning  to  understand  myself.  1 
want  to  get  married,  and  I  want  also  to  find  my 
career  in  marriage.  To  be  a  social  success;  to  be 
envied;  and  to  have  the  position  and  the  means  to 
lead  movements  that  will  help  others.  I  want  my 
career  as  well  as  love.  Oh,  Hilary,  if  only  you  had 
been  Marquis  of  Esk!" 

"The  position  and  the  means  to  help  others!" 
he  retorted  bitterly.  "I  wonder  if  you  have  ever 
realized  on  what  Esk's  fortune  is  based?" 

"Property  in  London,  isn't  it?" 

But  Warde  checked  himself.  It  was  not  through 
fear  of  offending  against  the  modesty  of  a  young 
girl.  Eve  was  sufficiently  old  and  worldly  enough 
to  know  something  of  the  crude  facts  of  life.  It 
was  rather  that  he  felt  it  was  not  playing  the  game 
as  he  had  learnt  it  at  school  and  'Varsity.  If  he 
had  nothing  better  to  say  than  to  run  down  Esk, 
he  had  better  retire  at  once. 

"It's  cold  for  you — let's  move  on,"  he  said. 

They  resumed  their  walk,  passing  through  a  gate- 
way into  Hyde  Park. 

"Means  count  for  so  much  in  this  world,"  pur- 
sued Eve.  "I  hate  to  seem  mercenary,  and  yet  I 
must  be  frank.  I  can't  blind  myself  to  the  advan- 
tages Francis  is  offering  me." 

"But  you  don't  care  for  him/  repeated  Warde 
doggedly. 

"If  I  cared  for  him  as — as  I  care  for  you,  I 
shouldn't  have  hesitated  for  one  moment  over  my 
answer." 

"I  expect  your  father  has  been  underlining  the 
difference  in  means  between  myself  and  Esk?" 


130  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"Yes,"  she  admitted. 

"And  dwelling  on  the  point  that  I'm  a  mere 
salaried  employee?" 

"Well— yes." 

"Since  then  I've  been  offered  a  partnership." 

"That's  good  news!"  exclaimed  Eve  cordially. 

"I'm  putting  ten  thousand  pounds  into  the  busi- 
ness— eight  thousand  of  it  is  practically  promised 
me  by  Paradine.  That  will  give  me  a  partnership 
with  a  one-third  interest.  And  more  than  that,  I'm 
in  the  throes  of  working  out  a  new  development  of 
the  system.  It's  quite  novel,  and  big,  and  it  means 
the  key  to  the  whole  problem  of  long-distance  com- 
munication. We  shall  be  able  to  jump  ahead — in 
a  few  years'  time  I  shall  be  on  the  way  to  a  for- 
tune." He  stopped  abruptly,  and  burst  out  with 
bitterness :  "To  think  that  I'm  emptying  my  money- 
bags into  the  scale  before  you!  That's  what  civil- 
ized marriage  comes  down  to,  stripped  of  its  rags 
of  convention.  Sale  and  barter,  sale  and  barter! 
For  disposal  by  private  treaty,  part  of  the  estate  of 
Lord  Merenthorpe  of  Beechhurst;  lot  i,  Viola;  lot 
2,  Evelyn;  lot  3,  Beatrice.  The  degradation  of  it!" 

"It's  unfair  to  say  that!" 

"It's  unconventional  to  say  that,"  he  retorted. 
"You'll  promise  in  the  sight  of  God  to  love,  honor 
and  obey  a  man  whom  you  neither  love,  honor,  nor 

expect  to  obey.  You'll  bear  children  as  though 

You'll  degrade  your  womanhood  for  the  price  of 
jewels  and  fine  houses  and  motors  and  yachts." 

She  exclaimed  against  it,  but  Warde  cut  on  ruth- 
lessly with  his  analysis :  "You  make  your  marriage 
of  hypocrisy,  and  what  does  it  lead  to?  You  must 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  131 

have  learned  what  happens  in  the  case  of  others  of 
that  set.  Yearning  for  the  realities  of  life  that 
have  been  thrown  aside.  If  uncontrolled,  miserable 
secrecies  and  evasions  and  the  hushing-up  of  scan- 
dals; if  controlled,  self-torture." 

She  was  trembling  under  the  lash  of  his  bitter 
words. 

Suddenly  he  changed  to  tenderness:  "Oh,  Eve, 
is  it  worth  the  price  you  will  have  to  pay?  If  you 
had  found  during  three  months  of  the  cruise  that 
you  didn't  care  for  me,  I'd  have  said  nothing  of  all 
this.  But  you  do  care  for  me ;  you'll  go  on  caring 
for  me;  and  in  the  days  to  come  you'll  look  back 
regretfully  to  what  you  threw  away  at  the  prompt- 
ings of  hypocritical  convention.  I  say  it  now, 
boldly  and  openly,  that  what  I  offer  in  love  and  de- 
votion is  worth  fifty  times  all  that  Esk  can  throw 
into  the  scale.  It's  not  mere  egotism — it's  the  in- 
exorable law  of  nature  that  created  man  and  woman 
to  mate  young,  of  free  choice,  at  the  call  of  the 
deepest  of  emotions,  and  for  that  call  alone.  A 
young  girl  at  the  threshold  of  life,  surging  with 
potentialities,  and  an  old  man  worn  out  and  patched 
up  by  doctors  and  drugs — it's  an  outrage  against 
Nature  herself,  and  she'll  one  day  force  her  reckon- 
ing on  you.  If  I  had  nothing  else  but  my  youth 
and  health,  and  we  loved  one  another,  it  would 
bring  you  more  real  happiness  than  all  the  treasure- 
chests  of  the  world.  'Better  a  dinner  of  herbs 
where  love  is — — ' ;  that's  as  true  to-day  as  it  was 
three  thousand  years  ago!" 

"The  world  has  changed  since  then." 

"Nature  has  not  changed.    Nature  plans  not  for 


132  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

a  few  paltry  thousand  years,  but  for  a  million  years 
ahead.  Nature  laid  it  down  in  her  scheme  of  things 
that  you  and  I  should  mate.  I  know  it,  and  you 
know  it!" 

"Oh,  Hilary,  you  make  me  feel  so  mean  and 
petty!" 

"You're  not  mean  and  petty — it's  others  who  are 
trying  to  force  you  to  that.  You're  big  and  fine. 
You're — Eve,  dearest,  don't  you  see  that  I  value 
you  above  all  the  world  ?" 

They  were  nearing  Grosvenor  Gate.  Suddenly 
tears  welled  up  into  her  eyes.  He  tried  to  comfort 
her,  but  in  the  publicity  of  the  open  it  could  only 
be  by  words. 

Presently  she  regained  possession  of  herself,  and 
glanced  at  the  watch  on  her  wrist.  "It's  nearly 
half-past  four!  Mother  will  be  waiting  at  the 
jeweler's  in  Regent  Street  and  wondering  what's 
happened  to  me.  Find  me  a  taxi,  Hilary." 

"May  I  come  with  you  part  of  the  way?" 

"Yes,  but  you  must  leave  me  before  Regent 
Street." 

In  the  cab  they  said  little,  for  the  constraint  of 
time  was  on  them  and  the  moments  of  being  to- 
gether were  flying  too  swiftly  for  any  lengthy  con- 
fidences. 

"Am  I  to  say  good-by?"  he  asked,  as  the  taxi 
slowed  down  at  order  near  Hanover  Square. 

Her  features  were  pale  and  drawn. 

"No,  not  good-by,"  she  murmured  in  a  low 
voice. 

His  pulses  leapt.    "Then  can  I  see  you  again?" 

"I  will  write." 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  133 

"I'm  leaving  to-night  for  Burnham,  where  my 
little  yacht  is  waiting  to  take  me  out  to  the  North 
Sea.  I  call  into  port  for  letters  now  and  again ;  or 
if  there  were  any  urgent  message  it  could  be  sent 
to  the  yacht  by  wireless." 

"Then  call  in  at  Burnham  this  day  week." 

He  offered  his  hand,  and  in  the  handshake  she 
felt  the  depths  of  his  feeling  for  her  surge  once, 
more  into  being. 

No  further  word  passed  between  them. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

GATHERING    STORM 

The  Merenthorpes  had  rented  a  town  house  for 
the  winter  in  South  Audley  Street.  It  was  to  be 
a  season  of  social  triumph  for  Lady  Merenthorpe — 
two  daughters  engaged,  and  each  to  a  highly  de- 
sirable parti.  Just  as  a  Roman  conqueror  trailed 
his  captives  through  the  streets  of  the  capital,  so, 
in  social  chains,  did  her  ladyship  propose  to  trail 
Lord  Esk  and  Geoffrey  Armadale.  Both  marriages 
were  to  take  place  early  in  December;  meanwhile 
she  was  planning  a  series  of  receptions  and  balls 
where  her  success  would  be  displayed  to  all  the 
world  that  mattered  socially. 

Ralph  usually  found  Beechhurst  too  much  of  a 
bore,  unless  he  were  on  a  money-raising  campaign, 
but  he  spared  time  to  call  in  at  South  Audley  Street 
and  bestow  his  approval  on  plans  in  general. 

"Great  hunting!"  he  remarked  to  the  family 
circle.  "I  expected  it  of  Vi,  but  Eve  has  surprised 
me,  I  confess.  Never  gave  her  credit  for  so  much 
pace." 

"Pace!"  commented  Lord  Merenthorpe,  looking 
up  from  his  Morning  Post.  I  wish  you  would  brace 
yourself  and  discover  a  suitable  match." 

"No  hurry— now,"  drawled  Ralph  lazily.  "The 
134 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  135 

money-lender  chaps  will  be  tumbling  over  one  an- 
other to  oblige  us  a  leetle  accommodation. 
Besides,  bachelors  are  all  the  form  this  year." 

"When  /  marry,"  chipped  in  Beatrice,  "I  shall 
make  it  a  condition  that  five  thousand  a  year  is 
settled  on  my  loving  and  worthy  bachelor  brother." 

Ralph  threw  a  handy  cushion  at  her,  and  found 
it  returned  with  emphasis. 

"We'd  better  make  one  of  the  rooms  into  a 
schoolroom,"  was  Viola's  comment,  "where  you  can 
find  your  entertainment  in  pulling  Bee's  hair  and 
she  can  throw  ink  over  you." 

"What  superb  dignity  you  have !"  retorted  Ralph. 
"Where  do  you  buy  it?  I  should  like  to  order  a 
couple  of  bottles  for  myself." 

"On  tick,"  suggested  Beatrice. 

"Certainly.  For  Heaven's  sake  let's  avoid  the 
vulgarity  of  paying  cash.  ...  As  I  was  saying 
before,  I  take  off  my  hat  to  Eve.  Captures  the 
biggest  game  of  the  year,  and  never  turns  a  hair. 
Takes  it  all  as  cool  as  a  cucumber.  Great  style!" 

"Can't  we  drop  the  subject?"  said  Eve. 

"I'm  paying  you  compliments.  Oh,  by  the  way, 
when  I  saw  you  in  the  taxi  the  other  day  with  that 
fellow  Warde,  I  s'pose  you  were  giving  him  his 
quietus  ?" 

Lady  Merenthorpe,  occupied  at  her  bureau  in 
making  out  an  extensive  list  of  invitations  to  her 
first  reception,  caught  the  words  and  glanced  up. 

"When  was  that?"  she  asked. 

"Wednesday  afternoon." 

"Eve,  you  never  told  us  that  you  had  been  see- 
ing him  on  Wednesday." 


136  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"I  didn't  think  it  worth  mentioning." 

"I  understood  that  when  you  left  us  you  were 
sauntering  around  the  shops." 

"I  happened  to  meet  him." 

"In  a  taxi?"  was  the  icy  comment. 

"No." 

Lord  Merenthorpe  put  in  his  word.  "The  fellow 
behaved  to  me  with  gross  impertinence,  and  I  ex- 
pect all  of  you  to  cut  him  dead." 

"If  I  wish  to  see  Mr.  Warde,"  flamed  Eve,  "I 
shall  do  so." 

"Eve,  you  are  forgetting  yourself !"  returned  her 
mother.  "If  you  met  him  in  order  to  tell  him  that 
acquaintanceship  was  over,  that  was  perhaps  excus- 
able; but  to  continue  it  is  an  insult  to  Francis  as 
well  as  an  insult  to  your  family." 

"I  shall  not  cut  my  friends." 

"Have  you  no  sense  of  your  position?  To  be 
seen  about  with  a  mere  office  clerk!" 

"As  it  happens,  he  is  being  made  a  partner;  but 
in  any  case  I  shall  choose  my  own  friends." 

"I  absolutely  forbid  it!"  declaimed  Lord  Meren- 
thorpe. Now  that  Eve  was  safely  engaged,  he  saw 
no  reason  for  any  further  diplomacy  in  the  Warde 
affair. 

There  ensued  a  lengthy  recrimination,  with  Eve 
white  and  defiant.  Finally  she  rose,  quivering,  and 
left  the  room. 

"Well,  I  like  her  spirit,"  commented  the  out- 
spoken Beatrice.  "If  I  were  to  be  ordered  about, 
I  should  go  straight  off  and  join  the  Suffragettes. 
Just  to  show  my  independence,  I  should  go  and 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  137 

bang  Lloyd  George  over  the  head  with  an  um- 
brella." 

That  had  the  effect  of  turning  Lord  Meren- 
thorpe's  wrath  in  another  direction.  "Lloyd  George ! 
This  damned  democratic  spirit !  It's  eating  its  way 
everywhere.  A  social  canker!  If  I  had  my  way 
"  He  continued  in  this  strain  for  a  consider- 
able period,  until  he  noticed  that  his  children  were 
exchanging  meaning  glances  with  one  another, 
when  he  trailed  off  lamely  and  returned  to  his 
Morning  Post. 

"Get  Eve  married  off  quickly,"  was  Ralph's  offer- 
ing to  the  discussion. 

****** 

In  the  afternoon,  among  the  callers  at  the  Meren- 
thorpe  house  was  Sir  Wilmer  Paradine.  Tiring  of 
continued  evasion  of  Mile.  Clothide's  demands,  he 
had  broken  off  the  liaison  and  returned  to  London. 

Learning  of  Eve's  engagement,  he  offered  his 
good  wishes,  but  he  did  not  conceal  a  certain  tinge 
of  formality  in  them.  Presently  he  contrived  to 
get  a  few  words  with  her  alone  in  a  secluded  corner 
of  the  reception-rooms. 

"This  will  hit  Warde  very  hard,"  he  said  ten- 
tatively. 

Eve  did  not  meet  his  eyes.  "I  am  not  the  only 
girl  he  could  marry,"  she  answered  in  a  low  voice. 

"A  splendid  young  fellow,  with  a  great  future 
before  him — if  this  doesn't  spoil  his  life.  I'm 
afraid,  very  much  afraid,  that  he  will  take  it 
badly." 

"He  tells  me  that  you're  helping  him  to  a  part- 
nership. That's  very  kind  of  you." 


138  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"My  idea  was "  He  paused,  and  then  con- 
tinued with  an  assumption  of  candor:  "My  idea 
was,  frankly,  that  if  he  were  needing  a  partner- 
ship in  order  to  make  good  his  standing  in  your 
father's  eyes,  I  would  help  him.  But  as  things  are, 
I  shall  have  to  reconsider  my  decision." 

"But  surely  because  of  this  you  won't  disappoint 
him?"  urged  Eve.  "I  should  so  like  to  feel  that 
he  was  getting  a  fair  chance  in  his  career." 

"You  must  realize  that  your  engagement  alters 
matters  entirely.  Before,  I  was  thinking  of  help- 
ing him  as  a  matter  of  sentiment — because  of  my 
regard  for  you,  because  I  felt  that  you  and  he  were 
exactly  suited  to  one  another — but  now  it  becomes 
a  matter  of  business,  and  on  that  plane  one  has  to 
be  cautious." 

"You  make  me  feel  that  I'm  injuring  his  work!" 

"You  mustn't  put  it  like  that,  my  dear  Eve.  You 
have  made  your  choice,  and  from  a  worldly  point 
of  view  it's  no  doubt  a  very  excellent  one.  Now 
you  must  allow  me  a  worldly  attitude  also.  If 
Warde  had  had  you  to  help  and  inspire  him,  his 
eventual  success  in  his  work  would  have  been  a 
matter  of  practical  certainty.  I  should  have  felt 
that  my  risk  in  financing  him  was  small.  To-day, 
it's  a  very  different  task.  After  a  young  fellow  like 
Warde  has  had  such  a  bitter  disappointment,  on 
the  threshold  of  his  career,  there's  no  telling  how 
his  character  may  develop." 

"How  cold-blooded  it  sounds!" 

"Well,  frankly,  isn't  your  own  attitude  just  a 
little  cold-blooded  also?  Unless  you  care  deeply 
forEsk!" 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  139 

As  an  old  family  friend,  Paradine  was  pushing 
his  position  to  the  limit  of  confidences. 

Eve  flushed  and  evaded  the  question.  "Then  you 
intend  to  make  me  feel  that  I'm  spoiling  Mr. 
Warde's  future?  That's  very  unjust  of  you!" 

"You  mistake  me — I  don't  intend  that.  You 
asked  me  a  definite  question — as  to  whether  I  was 
helping  him — and  I  have  given  you  a  frank  an- 
swer." 

"If  I  were  to  urge  you?"  she  pleaded. 

"Don't.  It  would  be  very  disagreeable  for  us 
both  if  I  were  forced  to  refuse.  As  I  say,  I  shall 
have  to  reconsider  my  position,  and  I  can  make  no 
definite  promises.  .  .  .  Now  tell  me  something 
about  the  cruise.  You  had  a  glorious  time,  I  im- 
agine." 

The  subject  had  been  turned,  but  his  words  had 
cut  home  even  deeper  than  he  judged.  In  the  sil- 
ence of  the  night,  Eve  thought  again  and  again  of 
the  injury  she  was  unwittingly  bringing  upon 
Warde.  Something  more  than  love  welled  up 
within  her — something  of  the  feeling  of  mother- 
hood that  lies  in  every  woman.  Was  there  nothing 
she  could  do  to  soften  the  blow  of  disappointment? 
A  dozen  vague  plans  flashed  up  like  meteors,  and 
faded  away  into  impracticability.  It  was  unthink- 
able that  he  would  accept  monetary  help  from  her- 
self— even  if  she  could  find  it  to  offer — or  from 
her  fiance.  But  he  would  from  Paradine.  And 
Paradine  would  help  him,  were  it  not  for  the  ele- 
ment of  risk — this  had  been  made  clear  to  her. 
Suppose  she  could  somehow  raise  the  eight  thou- 
sand pounds,  and  give  it  to  Paradine  to  lend  to 


140  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Warde?  That  thought  eddied  feverishly  through 
her  sleep,  magnified  into  tantalizing,  torturing  ad- 
ventures of  the  dream-world.  She  was  in  a  de- 
serted palace  where  treasure  was  hidden  away  in 
some  secret  room.  She  searched  through  intermin- 
able passages,  through  miles  of  silent  vaulted  cham- 
bers. At  last  she  came  upon  it.  There  was  the 
treasure-chest.  But  it  was  locked.  She  tore  at  it 
with  her  bare  hands ;  hunted  feverishly  for  a  crow- 
bar with  which  she  could  force  the  clasps.  Now 
she  had  found  her  implement;  but  the  room  had 
changed,  the  chest  was  no  longer  in  sight.  Again 
the  race  through  the  deserted  halls.  Now  she  came 
upon  it  again.  But  as  she  pried  at  the  heavy  iron 
clasps,  the  crowbar  crumbled  to  clay  in  her  hands. 
The  chest  turned  to  a  mocking  figure  sneering  at 
her,  laughing  at  her — the  halls  echoed  with  the 
mockery 

She  awoke  into  a  condition  where  the  world  of 
reality  was  still  intertwined  with  the  dream-world. 
With  obstinate  determination  she  sank  back  into 
sleep  to  search  once  again  for  the  elusive  treasure. 
But  always  some  obstacle  arose  to  prevent  the  ful- 
filment of  her  desire,  for  the  demons  of  sleep  have 
a  thousand  tricks  and  turns  with  which  to  lure  and 
torture  their  victims. 

In  the  cold  light  of  morning,  the  practical  diffi- 
culties of  finding  the  eight  thousand  pounds  con- 
fronted her.  To  whom  could  she  turn?  It  hap- 
pened that  in  the  morning's  post  were  a  couple  of 
money-lender's  circulars  addressed  to  Lord  Meren- 
thorpe.  Uncrumpling  these  from  the  waste-paper 
basket,  Eve  took  two  addresses. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  141 

The  first  she  went  to  was  in  Albermarle  Street, 
where  a  "Mr.  Molyneux"  offered  £50  to  £50,000 
on  note  of  hand,  and  secrecy  guaranteed.  He 
proved  to  be  a  bland,  elderly  man  with  an  ingratiat- 
ing smile  and  a  distinctly  foreign  accent. 

"Be  seated,  my  dear  madam.  What  can  I  haf  the 
bleasure  of  doing  for  you?" 

"I  want  to  borrow  eight  thousand  pounds." 

"You  haf  not  told  me  your  name  yet?" 

Eve  passed  her  card,  and  added :  "I  am  engaged 
to  marry  Lord  Esk." 

"Ah,  yes — I  haf  heard.  May  I  be  bermitted  to 
offer  you  my  goot  wishes  ?" 

"Can  you  lend  me  that  sum  of  money  ?" 

"Do  you  need  it  at  once  ?" 

"Yes." 

"But  you  are  not  yet  married." 

"The  marriage  is  to  take  place  very  shortly." 

'Could  you  not  wait  until  after?" 

"No,  I  need  the  money  now." 

"You  must  understand  that  the  risk  is  very  dif- 
ferent now.  Will  you  be  baying  the  money  for 
jewels?" 

"No." 

"If  it  were  that,  you  could  gif  me  a  lien  on  the 
jewels.  Do  you  need  it  to  bay  for  bills?" 

"I  can't  tell  you  what  I  want  it  for,"  answered 
Eve  shortly,  resenting  such  questions. 

Mr.  Molyneux  studied  her  through  heavily  lidded 
eyes.  It  was  an  essential  part  of  his  business  to 
learn  his  client's  secrets,  in  case  he  might  after- 
ward need  them  as  levers  for  enforcing  payment. 


142  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Knowledge  of  an  important  society  secret  was  often 
better  security  for  him  than  a  bond. 

"I  will  not  bress  you,  dear  madam,"  he  said,  "but 
you  must  understand  that  if  I  am  to  lend  you  money 
blindly,  I  must  ask  you  much  higher  terms." 

He  paused  invitingly,  but  Eve  had  no  intention 
of  confiding  in  him,  and  she  remained  silent. 

Continuing:  "What  security  will  you  be  able  to 
offer  me  ?" 

"I  understood  from  your  circular  that  you  lend 
money  on  note  of  hand?" 

"Yes,  I  would  do  that  for  the  Marchioness  of 
Esk,  but  you  are  not  yet." 

"Of  course  I  shall  be  able  to  pay  you  back  very 
shortly." 

Mr.  Molyneux  did  not  want  to  make  a  short  loan. 
His  business  was  founded  on  long  loans  at  very 
heavy  interest.  Consequently  Eve's  argument  had 
no  weight  with  him. 

"It  is  a  very  big  risk,"  he  stated.  "Suppose — 
you  will  bardon  what  I  haf  to  say,  for  it  is  necessary 
— suppose  you  were  to  meet  with  an  accident  next 
week  and  get  killed?" 

"Couldn't  I  take  out  an  insurance  policy?  I 
had  an  idea  that  was  the  way  these  things  were 
arranged." 

"You  are  very  businesslike,  dear  madam.  It  is 
sometimes  done.  But  also  I  must  haf  security  for 
rebayment." 

"What  kind  of  security  do  you  want?" 

"If  you  could  get  the  bill  endorsed  by  someone 
of  bosition — your  future  husband?"  he  insinuated 
fishing  for  her  secret. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  143 

Eve  refused,  and  some  time  they  talked  at  cross 
purposes.  Finally  she  rose  to  leave,  accompanied 
to  the  door  by  many  expressions  of  polite  regret 
and  hopes  that  she  would  see  her  way  to  offer  the 
security  asked  for. 

Money  lenders  seemed  useless  for  her  purpose — 
probably  any  other  one  would  take  up  the  same 
attitude  as  this  Mr.  Molyneux.  After  considerable 
hesitation,  Eve  resolved  to  ask  her  fiance  for  the 
money. 

The  right  moment  seemed  to  come  on  the  after- 
noon following.  Esk  had  invited  her  to  look  over 
Jerningham  House  and  suggest  any  alterations  she 
would  fancy  during  the  process  of  redecoration,  and 
for  the  resetting  of  family  jewels.  It  was  a  daz- 
zling experience.  In  Esk's  study,  under  the  grave 
eyes  of  ancestral  portraits,  the  jewels  were  laid  out 
for  her  inspection,  while  a  deferential  jeweler  and 
his  assistant  stood  by  to  offer  their  technical  ad- 
vice. Diamonds,  rubies,  pearls,  sapphires,  emeralds 
— they  seemed  to  Eve  as  the  contents  of  the  treas- 
ure chest  of  her  dreams.  That  necklace  of  pearls 
alone,  one  of  several,  would  more  than  provide 
Warde  with  the  partnership  he  was  so  needing. 

"All  yours !"  whispered  Esk. 

When  the  jewelers  had  left,  Eve  turned  to  him 
with  a  nervousness  which  betrayed  itself  in  her 
voice. 

"I  wonder  if  you  would  do  me  a  great  favor?" 
she  asked. 

"Anything  you  ask  for,"  he  at  once  replied. 

"I  happen  to  be  needing  some  money  just  now." 

"For  your  trousseau?" 


144  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"No,  I  wanted  it  to  lend  to  an  old  friend." 

"Is  it  much?" 

"No,  not  much  when  I  think  of  all  those  jewels. 
Eight  thousand  pounds." 

Esk  stiffened.  "Lend  eight  thousand  pounds  to 
a  friend!  Who  is  she?" 

"Must  I  say?" 

"Naturally  I  should  want  to  know." 

"It's  Mr.  Warde — the  man  you  met  at  Saltness 
Island.  He  needs  it  for  the  development  of  his 
wireless  system." 

"My  dear  Eve,  don't  you  realize  that  what  you're 
asking  me  is  highly  unusual?" 

"I  know  it  is.  But  you  told  me  that  you  would 
give  me  anything  I  asked  for." 

"I  never  expected  a  request  of  that  kind !  Money 
to  spend  on  yourself — yes,  and  willingly.  But  this !" 

"He  won't  know  it  comes  from  you.  I  thought 
of  passing  it  through  Sir  Wilmer  Paradine  as  a 
purely  business  loan." 

"Worse  and  worse." 

"I'm  asking  you  this  as  a  great  favor." 

"It's  an  impossible  request.  No  man  with  any 
self-respect  could  countenance  it.  For  you  to  lend 
eight  thousand  pounds  to  a  young  man — secretly — • 
it's  sheerly  impossible!" 

"When  those  jewels  were  displayed  on  the  table, 
you  said  to  me,  'All  yours.'  The  price  of  one  neck- 
lace would " 

"All  yours — yes,  but  not  to  fling  away  on  a 
stranger.  Those  jewels  are  family  jewels." 

"But  money " 

"Is  family  money!" 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  145 

In  his  tone  was  the  snap  of  a  lock.  The  treasure 
chest  of  her  dreams  was  bolted  again.  The  lever 
of  affection  had  crumbled  to  clay  in  her  hands. 

She  realized  that  his  words  were  final;  and 
turned  reluctantly  to  the  plans  for  the  redecoration 
of  Jerningham  House.  He  became  affectionate  once 
more. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

THE    BIG    TEMPTATION 

With  Warde,  work  had  been  going  badly  during 
the  week  following  that  meeting  with  Eve  in  Ken- 
sington Gardens.  He  was  torn  in  mind,  harried 
and  harassed  by  his  own  thoughts — hopes,  doubts, 
despondencies,  dreams  of  what  might  have  been  and 
what  still  might  be.  Until  Eve  was  definitely  mar- 
ried to  Esk,  he  could  not  bring  himself  to  give  up 
hope.  That  moment  near  Grosvenor  Gate,  when 
tears  had  brimmed  her  eyes,  was  branded  on  his 
memory.  She  loved  him,  and  yet  she  had  promised 
herself  to  Esk.  He  did  not  blame  her — it  was,  as 
Miss  Glenistair  had  said,  the  natural  outcome  of 
her  environment  and  the  atmosphere  of  the  Meren- 
thorpe  views.  Never  before  had  he  realized  so 
vividly  the  crushing  power  of  money — that  the  aris- 
tocracy of  England,  as  well  as  of  every  other 
civilized  country,  is  founded  on  the  possession  of 
wealth,  and  maintains  itself  essentially  by  the  con- 
centration of  wealth.  Title  and  money,  money  and 
title,  they  marry  and  intermarry,  buttressing  their 
position. 

He  was  worried,  too,  in  regard  to  Paradine,  who 
had  not  communicated  with  him  since  the  interview 
at  Brussels,  although  there  had  been  opportunities 

146 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  147 

to  do  so  by  letter,  and  also  by  wireless  through  the 
Burgrave  offices. 

At  the  date  appointed  by  Eve,  Warde  took  his 
yacht  into  Burnham.  Her  letter  was  awaiting  him 
in  his  mail,  and  another  in  the  handwriting  of 
Paradine.  He  first  opened  the  former. 

It  was  a  short  letter,  constrained  and  reluctant, 
as  though  she  hardly  dared  to  put  her  inner  feelings 
into  black  and  white. 

"My  dear  Hilary,"  it  read,  "I  am  writing  to  you 
as  I  promised,  although  there  is  very  little  to  be 
said.  Ralph  happened  to  see  us  in  the  taxi  last 
week,  and  mentioned  it  to  my  father.  He  is  now 
more  bitter  against  you  than  ever.  I  am  asked  to 
give  up  seeing  you,  but  I  shall  not  break  old  friend- 
ships. 

"My  time  is  occupied  in  choosing  the  trousseau, 
planning  alterations  to  Jerningham  House,  and  ex- 
changing calls.  I  am  made  to  feel  that  I  have 
suddenly  become  someone  quite  important,  but  it  is 
a  reflected  glory.  I  am  no  different  to  the  Eve  of 
three  months  ago. 

"Sir  Wilmer  was  amongst  the  callers.  Our  con- 
versation turned  to  you,  and  I  was  extremely  sorry 
to  hear  that  there  is  now  a  difficulty  about  lending 
you  the  eight  thousand  pounds  for  your  partner- 
ship. It  makes  me  feel  very  mean  and  petty  to  think 
that  I  am  indirectly  injuring  your  prospects.  If 
you  could  manage  to  wait  a  few  months,  I  believe  he 
would  probably  keep  to  his  original  promise.  Can 
you  wait? 

"Your  sincere  friend,  EVE." 


148  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

With  a  sinking  heart,  Warde  turned  to  the  letter 
from  Paradine.  This  was  also  short  and  con- 
strained : 

"My  dear  Warde, — Difficulties  have  arisen  since 
our  chat  at  Brussels  in  regard  to  lending  you  the 
money  you  ask  for.  I  fear  that  I  can  make  no 
definite  promise  at  present.  Come  to  see  me  when 
next  you  are  in  town,  and  I  will  explain. 
"Yours  sincerely, 

"WILMER  PARADINE. 

The  uncertainty  of  it  all  was  torturing  Warde 
beyond  endurance.  He  could  not  concentrate  on 
his  work  while  everywhere  the  ground  seemed  to 
be  crumbling  under  his  feet.  Again  he  hurried  up 
to  London,  and  by  telephone  fixed  an  appointment 
with  Sir  Wilmer  for  the  evening,  at  the  latter's 
flat,  about  eleven  o'clock.  Until  that  hour,  Paradine 
had  an  engagement. 

It  was  after  midnight  when  Paradine  returned 
and  found  Warde  waiting  moodily  in  the  study. 

"The  Merenthorpe  dance  detained  me,"  he  ex- 
plained. "Eve  was  looking  more  charming  than 
ever.  If  I  were  a  young  man  I  should  have  sailed 
in  and  cut  her  out  from  under  Esk's  bows.  Age 
is  a  terrible  handicap."  He  relaxed  into  a  deep 
leather  armchair. 

"Lack  of  money  is  a  bigger  handicap,"  answered 
Warde  bitterly. 

"If  I  could  only  exchange  my  money  for  your 
youth!" 

"Then  you  would  realize  my  position." 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  149 

"The  trouble  with  you,"  said  Sir  Wilmer  with  a 
friendliness  that  carried  off  the  intrusion  of  his 
words,  "is  that  you  lack  boldness.  You  are  too 
hesitant,  too — nicely  scrupulous.  You  handicap 
yourself." 

"Too  hesitant  in  what  respect?" 

"In  regard  to  Eve.  Don't  take  offense  at  what 
I'm  saying — I  am  an  old  friend  of  hers,  and  I  have 
a  high  regard  for  you  as  well.  Now,  three  months 
ago  you  had  your  opportunity.  You  remember  the 
picnic  by  Leffenham  Woods?  I'll  confess  that  I 
planned  that  picnic  in  order  to  give  you  two  young 
people  a  chance  of  coming  to  an  understanding.  I 
saw  that  the  atmosphere  of  Beechhurst  was  weigh- 
ing on  you,  and  so  I  gave  you  your  opportunity  on 
neutral  ground.  Why  didn't  you  clinch  it?" 

His  paternal  tone  invite'd  confidences. 

"It  wouldn't  have  been  fair,"  answered  Warde. 
"An  offer  from  Esk  might  come  during  the  cruise, 
and  she  must  be  free  to  accept." 

"An  offer  which  can  only  lead  to  unhappiness  in 
the  long  run.  She,  as  well  as  you,  will  some  day 
be  eating  her  heart  out  in  regrets.  It's  only  natural. 
Esk  is  practically  a  worn-out  invalid.  Even  I  with 
my  white  hairs  am  twenty  years  younger  than  he." 

"I  realize  all  that." 

"Then  where's  your  spirit?  Eve  is  not  yet  mar- 
ried to  him.  Sail  in  and  cut  her  out!" 

"It  sounds  so  simple." 

"It  is  simple.  I  know  perfectly  well  that  she 
doesn't  care  for  Esk  in  the  way  she  cares  for  you. 
Ask  her  boldly  to  run  away  with  you." 

"To  be  Marchioness  of  Esk  is  a  career.    I  can't 


150  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

offer  her  a  social  position  anywhere  approaching 
it." 

"Not  at  the  present  moment — true.  But  in  th^ 
near  future — unless  you  persist  in  squandering  your 
brains." 

"In  your  letter  you  said  some  difficulty  had 
arisen  in  regard  to  financing  me?" 

"Yes — just  the  difficulty  we've  been  discussing. 
At  Brussels  I  was  expecting  that  you  two  would 
marry.  She  returned  engaged  to  Esk,  and  that 
made  a  radical  difference  to  the  proposition." 

"How?" 

"I  find  you  moody  and  restless  and  losing  confi- 
dence in  yourself.  That  doesn't  promise  well  for 
your  future  work.  Looking  at  it  sheerly  from  the 
business  side — as  I  must — the  risk  in  financing  you 
is  greater  than  ever.  Frankly" — a  pause  lent  the 
effect  of  deliberateness  to  what  he  was  about  to  say 
— "frankly,  you've  bungled  your  love  affair,  and  it 
may  be  that  you'll  bungle  your  research  work  as 
well." 

His  words  stung.  "Isn't  that  rather  like  kicking 
a  man  when  he's  temporarily  down?"  retorted 
Warde. 

"It  is.  I  want  to  kick  spirit  into  you.  You  need 
it.  You've  practically  given  up  Eve  to  Esk,  and 
apparently  you're  giving  up  your  brains  to  Bur- 
grave.  That's  how  I  see  the  proposition." 

"I  was  relying  on  your  carrying  out  that  half- 
promise  at  Brussels." 

"Relying  on  it  for  what  purpose?" 

"It  would  have  helped  to  make  my  standing  more 
secure." 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  151 

"For  what  purpose?" 

"Naturally,  for  marriage." 

"That's  precisely  my  point.  Married  to  her,  I 
believe  in  your  future  and  am  ready  to  help  you. 
Not  married  to  her,  I  have  doubts  of  you.  The  two 
run  together." 

"One  runs  before  the  other.  Financial  position 
must  come  before  marriage." 

"No,  together,"  persisted  Paradine.  "Now  fol- 
low me  carefully.  On  the  day  you  marry  Eve, 
you  receive  my  financial  blessing.  I'll  take  you  up 
and  finance  and  make  you  a  money  power  as  well 
as  a  scientist.  We'll  work  together,  you  and  I—- 
you at  the  research  end  and  I  at  the  financial  end. 
We'll  put  wireless  telephony  into  a  position  where 
Burgrave  could  never  lift  it.  We'll  work  on  the  big 
scale,  taking  big  risks  in  order  to  get  big  returns. 
We'll  make  a  world  monopoly." 

"You  want  me  to  leave  Burgrave." 

"Naturally.  As  I  explained  to  you  in  April  last, 
I  can't  see  myself  working  in  with  him." 

"And  take  to  you  the  secrets  that  belong  to  the 
firm — that  Burgrave  has  paid  me  to  discover — work 
that  I  couldn't  have  carried  out  unless  he'd  provided 
the  laboratories  and  the  assistants  and  the  yacht 
and  all  the  expensive  apparatus."  Warde  was 
speaking  to  himself  rather  than  to  Paradine. 

"Yes.  I  should  rely  on  your  bringing  to  me 
especially  the  new  development  you  spoke  of — 
bending  the  ether  waves.  Have  you  given  that  away 
to  Burgrave?" 

"Not  yet." 

"Good." 


152  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"In  plain  words,  I'm  to  betray  my  trust." 

"You're  talking  melodrama!" 

"I  must  look  facts  in  the  face." 

"Then  look  straight  at  this  one.  If  Eve  gives 
up  Esk  in  order  to  run  away  with  you,  isn't  she 
making  a  very  big  sacrifice?  Heavens,  man,  look 
at  it  straight!" 

Warde's  features  were  haggard  with  the  fighting 
of  temptation. 

"I  should  feel  mean  and  blackguardly,"  he  ex- 
claimed bitterly. 

"You're  overwrought.  My  dear  fellow,  let  me, 
with  my  long  experience,  tell  you  that  your  scruples 
are  impracticable  in  the  world  we  live  in.  If  the 
world  were  ideal,  you  could  carry  out  your  high 
principles  and  expect  others  to  do  the  same.  But 
the  world's  not  ideal  or  anywhere  near  it.  Stick 
to  your  over-nice  scruples,  and  you'll  write  failure 
over  your  career.  Your  brains  will  go  to  enriching 
those  who  are  less  scrupulous.  In  later  life,  you'll 
look  back  on  what  you  threw  away,  and  wonder 
what  induced  you  to  be  so  quixotically  foolish." 

"To  leave  Burgrave — trick  him!" 

"There's  no  trick.  He's  a  shrewd  North  country- 
man, and  has  probably  protected  himself  amply. 
In  any  case,  he's  not  dependent  on  wireless  tele- 
phony. His  stand-by  is  the  general  electrical  busi- 
ness." 

"I  should  feel  I  had  lost  my  self-respect." 

"The  sacrifice  you'd  be  making  would  be  for 
Eve's  sake  and  for  no  other  reason." 

"Still " 

"Plenty  of  other  men  have  done  more  than  that 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  153 

for  the  girl  they  loved.  Are  you  going  to  let  her 
marry  Esk  and  ruin  her  eventual  happiness?" 

"She  wants  a  career  as  well  as  love." 

"Then  give  her  both !    Give!" 

Warde  gripped  and  ungripped  his  fingers.  The 
battle  of  temptation  was  raging  fiercely  within  him. 
Six  months  before  he  had  been  offered  money  and  a 
career  and  had  refused.  Now  the  bid  was  higher. 
Eve  was  in  the  scale. 

Was  that  his  price? 

A  long  minute  passed  before  he  could  frame  his 
words. 

"I  must — think  it  over,"  he  replied  unsteadily. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE  TURNING-POINT 

When  he  left  Paradine's  flat  near  Regent's  Park, 
the  night  was  clear  and  cold  and  bracing,  a  fore- 
runner of  winter  frosts.  Warde  started  to  walk 
across  the  West  End  toward  his  hotel  in  South 
Kensington. 

At  such  a  crisis  in  a  man's  career,  his  welter  of 
thoughts,  set  out  on  the  dissection  table  and  flag-la- 
beled, would  fill  the  greater  part  of  a  volume.  But 
what  purpose  would  it  serve  to  detail  ?  The  matter- 
ings  of  life  lie  in  the  doings,  not  the  thinkings. 
What  a  man  does  summarizes  his  innermost  feel- 
ings and  reveals  the  resultant  of  emotions  hidden 
even  to  himself.  Thoughts  are  merely  potential 
actions. 

The  West  End  by  two  o'clock  is  almost  a  deserted 
city.  A  policeman  on  point  or  beat;  a  prowling 
taxi;  a  gang  of  street  cleaners  hosing  away  the 
grime  of  traffic;  a  vegetable  wagon  from  the  coun- 
try proceeding  sedately  toward  Covent  Garden  mar- 
ket, the  driver  asleep  and  leaving  the  conduct  of  the 
journey  to  his  horse ;  a  woman  of  the  night  waiting 
for  some  belated  wayfarer  in  evening  dress ;  a  slink- 
ing, shoulder-bent  figure  searching  the  gutters  for 

154 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  155 

treasure-trove — these  make  the  life  of  the  streets 
in  the  small  hours. 

Warde's  thoughts  drew  him  to  South  Audley 
Street.  Here  there  was  more  evidence  of  a  living 
London.  A  line  of  motors  waited  for  their  owners. 
He  had  forgotten  the  dance  at  the  Merenthorpes' — 
evidently  it  was  not  yet  over.  Warde  was  turning 
aside  toward  Park  Lane  when  an  imperious  call 
from  a  plushed  footman  brought  Lord  Esk's  elec- 
tric brougham  out  of  the  rank  and  gliding  quickly  to 
the  doorway  of  the  house.  Esk,  heavily  fur-coated, 
appeared. 

With  a  sudden  impulse,  Warde  turned  briskly  and 
went  up  to  Esk,  offering  a  card:  "My  name's 
Warde.  We  met  at  Saltness.  May  I  have  a  few 
moments'  talk  with  you  ?" 

Esk,  pausing  at  the  open  door  of  his  brougham, 
surveyed  him  coldly.  "I  can  give  you  a  few  mo- 
ments. Come  in." 

"Home,"  said  Esk  into  the  speaking-tube.  Then : 
"I  had  better  tell  you  at  once  that  what  you  want 
is  out  of  the  question." 

Warde  misunderstood.  He  had  no  intention  of 
asking  for  anything.  His  action  had  been  a  sudden 
quixotic  impulse  to  try  to  see  the  best  in  Esk— - 
to  measure  up  as  man  to  man  and  weigh  what 
each  would  offer  to  Eve  for  her  eventual  happiness. 
It  was  perhaps  a  foolish  action — a  feverishly  self- 
deprecating  action. 

"What  did  you  imagine  I  wanted  ?"  he  replied. 

"I  am  told  the  sum  is  eight  thousand  pounds. 
I  cannot  see  my  way  to  advance  it." 

"Who "  began  Warde,  but  checked  himself 


156  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

abruptly.  Who  else  but  Eve  would  have  broached 
such  a  matter?  In  a  flash  he  saw  the  whole  chain 
of  circumstance — Eve,  remorseful  at  injuring  his 
prospects,  trying  to  devise  a  way  to  help  him  to  his 
partnership ;  in  her  anxiety,  approaching  Esk  to  get 
an  advance  of  the  eight  thousand  pounds;  the  lat- 
ter giving  a  cold  refusal;  and  now  imagining  that 
Warde  would  urge  the  matter  on  the  strength  of 
his  former  relationship  toward  Eve. 

A  hot  wave  of  angry  resentment  was  as  quickly 
followed  by  the  coolness  of  decision.  Those  few 
words  of  Esk's  had  settled  Warde's  problem.  He 
knew  now  that  his  tangled  skein  of  emotions  had 
been  straightened  out  ready  for  the  smooth  unroll- 
ing of  action. 

Continuing :  "You  misunderstand  me  completely. 
That  monetary  affair  was  settled  to-night." 

"Then  what  did  you  want?" 

"Something  I  have  already  obtained." 

"I  fail  to  understand." 

"A  decision  on  a  private  concern." 

"If  this  is  some  obscure  form  of  joke " 

"I  was  never  more  serious." 

"You  owe  me  some  explanation,"  said  Esk 
stiffly. 

"The  explanation  is  entirely  simple.  I  came  to 
talk  to  you  in  order  to  clear  up  a  certain  problem 
of  my  own.  In  a  dozen  words  you  had  settled  it." 

Esk  turned  to  scrutinize  him.  "I  had  better  send 
you  home  in  my  car,"  he  suggested  significantly. 
"What  is  your  address  ?" 

"Thanks — I  prefer  to  walk." 

The  brougham  drew  up  at  order,  and  Warde 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  157 

alighted.  A  phrase  from  an  Ibsen  play  flitted  to 
his  lips.  "Good-night,  and  thanks  for  the  light,"  he 
said. 

Reaching  his  hotel  fresh  and  crisp  from  the  walk 
through  the  keen  night  air,  Warde  wrote  a  line  to 
Eve :  "I  must  see  you  at  once.  I  have  something 
of  the  greatest  importance  to  tell  you.  Can  you 
meet  me  to-day — Thursday?  Please  telephone." 

He  posted  the  letter,  and  then  went  to  bed  with  a 
mind  at  rest,  sinking  quickly  into  a  deep  and  dream- 
less sleep. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

BOATS    BURNED 

The  rendezvous  was  for  the  afternoon,  at  the 
Sheen  Gate  of  Richmond  Park.  In  the  huge  empti- 
ness of  the  Park  they  could  be  as  alone  as  in  the 
privacy  of  a  room. 

Frost  still  tingled  in  the  air,  though  the  sun  shone 
sturdily  in  a  sky  only  tinged  with  the  autumn  mists 
of  London.  It  was  a  day  to  send  the  blood  pulsing 
through  one's  veins — clamoring  of  the  sheer  joy  of 
living. 

"Shall  we  walk  through  to  Richmond?"  he 
asked  when  he  had  helped  Eve  from  her  taxi. 

"Yes— do." 

"I've  burned  my  boats  to-day,"  he  told  her  as  they 
stepped  briskly  together  over  the  short  grass  of  an 
open  stretch  of  parkland. 

"In  what  way?" 

"Last  night  I  saw  Paradine.  He  made  me  an 
excellent  monetary  offer  if  I  would  leave  Burgrave 
and  develop  my  wireless  system  with  him.  I 
thought  over  the  offer,  and  this  morning,  after  you 
had  fixed  this  meeting,  I  went  to  him  again  and 
clinched  the  agreement.  I'm  to  receive  a  thousand 
a  year,  a  directorship  in  the  company  he'll  form, 
and  a  certain  share  interest  dependent  on  results. 

158 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  159 

I  then  went  to  Burgrave,  told  him  of  my  decision, 
and  severed  with  him." 

"That's  excellent  news!  I'm  so  glad!  Burgrave 
was  sorry  to  lose  you,  I  expect." 

"Yes,"  said  Warde  briefly.  He  gave  no  hint  of 
the  stormy  interview  with  his  chief,  the  bitter  re- 
proaches, and  the  scathing  final  words :  "Ah  tell 
ye  straight  ye've  taken  the  crooked  path,  and  ye'll 
live  to  regret  it!  My  God,  ye've  sold  yourself  for 
a  woman's  smiles!" 

"It's  a  great  relief  to  me  to  know  that  you're  on 
the  way  to  a  big  career." 

"There's  one  other  condition." 

Eve  suddenly  went  white.     "You  mean- ?" 

"Paradine  is  offering  me  this  in  order  that  I  can 
be  in  a  position  to  marry  you.  That's  why  I  asked 
you  to  meet  me  to-day." 

"But " 

"The  time  has  gone  by  for  buts  and  ifs  and  vacil- 
lations! We  can't  let  matters  drift  any  longer. 
Eve,  don't  you  realize  in  every  tiny  fiber  of  you 
that  we  must  marry." 

"I've  promised " 

"You  half-promised  because  some  sort  of  an 
answer  was  dragged  from  you.  You've  regretted  it 
ever  since.  Look  me  straight  in  the  eyes  and  tell 
me  if  you  haven't  regretted  it." 

"You  carry  me  out  of  myself !" 

"I  want  to  carry  you  out  of  your  environment." 

"You  said  you  had  burned  your  boats.  What 
really  did  you  mean  by  that  ?" 

His  inner  meaning  was  that  the  agreement  with 
Paradine  would  come  into  being  on  the  express  con- 


160  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

dition  of  his  marrying  Eve.  But  it  would  be  using 
an  unfair  club  to  let  her  know  that  his  future  de- 
pended in  that  material  fashion  on  her  acceptance. 
He  therefore  slurred  over  the  question: 

"I'm  playing  for  big  stakes.  Big  work  and  big 
love.  Come  with  me  and  help  me  build  this  new 
life !  Together  we'll  harness  up  Fortune  and  drive 
her  through  Park  Lane.  You'll  have  your  social 
career,  dearest,  and  you'll  have  the  exquisite  pleas- 
ure of  building  it.  It  won't  be  ready-made  for  you, 
as  it  would  have  been  with  Esk.  There's  no  real 
pleasure  in  tackling  life  in  cotton-wool.  Anyone 
could  make  a  social  career  as  Marchioness  of  Esk 
— any  girl  of  reasonable  looks  and  birth." 

"Hilary,  you  seem  to  have  changed!  I  never 
knew  you  before  so  positive  and — and  masterful." 

"I've  thrown  over  hesitations — that's  the  change 
in  me.  I'm  going  straight  ahead  now — with  you, 
we  two,  straight  out  to  bend  this  social  world  to 
our  desires,  as  I've  bent  my  ether  waves.  There's 
always  a  way  to  bend  circumstances,  if  one  has 
the  will  and  the  inspiration.  Can't  you  feel  the 
frost  tingling  you  to  action?  That's  an  allegory  o£ 
life." 

His  words  were  vibrant,  like  the  tones  of  a  vio- 
lin where  the  wood  has  been  perfectly  seasoned 
and  shaped  to  its  purpose.  They  resonated  within 
her.  Her  nerves  seemed  to  vibrate  with  his,  like 
two  instruments  tuned  to  the  same  pitch. 

"There's  magic  in  your  voice  to-day!"  she  ex- 
claimed. 

"Better,  there's  understanding  between  us.  Deep 
calling  to  deep,  and  answering.  Trust  to  me, 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  161 

dearest.  I'll  give  you  all  your  heart  can  wish  for. 
There'll  be  no  regrets.  We  shall  be  obeying  the 
call  of  Nature,  and  Nature  will  show  us  her  inner- 
most secrets  of  happiness!" 

They  had  passed  over  the  open  stretch  of  park- 
land, and  a  group  of  spreading  oaks,  russet  and 
Indian-red,  seemed  to  throw  protecting  arms  about 
them. 

They  turned  to  one  another  as  though  by  simul- 
taneous impulse,  and  the  spark  of  love  flashed  from 
pole  to  pole.  She  was  in  his  arms ;  he  was  kissing 
her  passionately;  no  spoken  word  could  have  told 
more  clearly  of  her  surrender. 

"My  love!  My  dearest  love!"  he  whispered 
throbbingly. 

She  felt  that  nothing  mattered  but  his  kisses — • 

the  world  was  a  thousand  miles  away. 

****** 

They  came  eventually  to  talk  of  the  prose  of  mar- 
riage. 

It  was  agreed  between  them  that  delay  would 
be  purposeless.  They  would  go  before  the  regis- 
trar the  next  day,  and  leave  London  straightway 
for  their  honeymoon.  Lord  Merenthorpe  and  Esk 
and  Miss  Glenistair  would  have  to  be  informed  by 
letter.  Clothes — Eve  would  need  only  a  light  trav- 
eling outfit,  and  her  trousseau  in  general  could  go 
forward  in  the  process  of  making  and  be  ready 
for  her  on  her  return  to  London. 

As  for  Warde,  he  would  not  be  needed  for  a 
month  or  so.  Paradine  would  require  fully  that 
time  to  set  his  preparations  for  their  joint  work. 

And  now  to  choose  the  country  of  their  honey- 


162  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

moon.  They  discussed  it  with  tingling  zest  as  they 
made  their  way  through  the  park  to  Richmond,  and 
in  a  cosy  corner  of  a  tea-room  definitely  decided 
details.  They  must  seek  the  sun.  The  Riviera 
with  its  hothouse  artificiality  was  quickly  ruled  out. 
Italy  they  lingered  over,  but  dismissed  as  tourist- 
ridden.  Egypt — better,  but  too  full  of  acquaint- 
ances. 

The  choice  came  to  Morocco.  It  was  not  luxury- 
ridden.  It  held  the  spice  of  adventure.  Its  lone- 
liness would  suit  their  mood  of  abandonment  to  one 
another. 

Morocco  be  it! 

****** 

There  was  no  hitch  to  the  plans  they  made. 

On  the  after-morning  of  that  walk  through  Rich- 
mond Park,  Hilary  and  Eve  were  in  the  Sud  express 
from  Paris — to  make  their  way  by  easy  stages 
through  Spain  to  Gibraltar,  and  so  across  the 
Straits  to  the  land  of  burning  sunshine  and  burn- 
ing passions. 


BOOK  II.    CAREER 

CHAPTER   I 

FIVE   YEARS   ON 

Five  years  packed  with  interest,  excitement,  in- 
tensity of  work,  ever-growing  success. 

There  had  been  first  that  month  of  delirious 
happiness  in  Spain  and  Morocco.  Hilary  and  Eve 
had  felt  that  the  world  stood  still  to  allow  them 
their  honeymoon.  The  Merenthorpe  family,  Esk, 
Burgrave,  Paradine,  were  for  the  time  being  thrust 
away  to  another  plane  of  existence.  They  wanted 
no  letters,  no  interruption  to  their  happiness  in  one 
another.  They  lived  in  a  crystal  bubble  of  their 
own  creation — in  an  inner  world  of  glowing  emo- 
tion bounded  by  the  swiftly  changing  scenes  of  their 
journey.  The  deserted  palace  of  the  Alhambra  with 
its  thousand  courtyards  had  been  reared  to  form  a 
setting  for  their  kisses;  the  chasm  of  Ronda  had 
been  cleft  to  make  for  them  a  lovers'  lane;  the 
fierce  wild  solitudes  of  the  Atlas  Mountains  had 
been  piled  up,  peak  on  peak,  to  awe  them  with  the 
majesty  of  Nature  and  send  them  closer  to  one  an- 
other's arms,  seeking  the  protectiveness  of  love  as 
a  child  runs  to  the  protection  of  a  mother.  In  their 
tenderly  intimate  abandonment,  they  spoke  of  them- 
selves as  the  babes  in  the  wood.  There  was  no 

163 


164  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

need  in  the  tented  solitudes  of  desert  and  moun- 
tain, with  only  their  Moorish  escort  to  link  them 
with  civilization,  to  play  at  being  man  and  woman. 
They  were  two  little  children.  The  world  of  Lon- 
don was  an  ugly  dream-world.  This  honeymoon 

was  the  reality  of  existence. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

Later  came  the  inevitable  shattering  of  the  crys- 
tal bubble.  They  returned  to  London,  and  the 
unrhythmic  prose  of  life  replaced  the  pulsing 
cadences  of  the  honeymoon. 

Lord  and  Lady  Merenthorpe  refused  to  acknowl- 
edge Warde.  Toward  Eve  they  were  bitterly  re- 
proachful; but  she  was  their  daughter,  and  in  course 
of  time  a  compromise  of  peace  was  patched  to- 
gether. Beatrice,  always  outspoken,  openly  cham- 
pioned her.  Ralph,  with  a  grandiose  idea  of  assert- 
ing the  family  position,  called  on  Warde  to  adminis- 
ter a  thrashing,  but  found  himself  forcibly  trans- 
ported to  the  office  door  and  deposited  at  the  bottom 
of  the  staircase,  leaving  him  with  the  newborn 
realization  that  there  might  be  two  sides  to  a  public 
chastisement. 

Paradine  had  been  very  busy  during  Warde's 
month  of  honeymoon.  The  financing  of  an  enter- 
prise such  as  wireless  telephony,  where  he  held 
inside  knowledge  against  the  guesses  of  outsiders, 
was  work  after  his  own  heart.  Warde  returned  to 
find  the  company  on  the  point  of  flotation. 

It  was  a  small  "parent"  company  asking  only 
for  £50,000  from  the  public.  The  prospectus  gave 
the  vaguest  of  information  as  to  present  perform- 
ance and  future  expectation;  the  list  of  directors 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  165 

was  small,  and  with  the  exception  of  Paradine, 
unimpressive;  there  was  no  patent  yet  applied  for; 
the  sub-clauses  retained  powers  in  the  hands  of  the 
Board  to  an  abnormally  dangerous  extent — that  is, 
dangerous  from  a  shareholder's  point  of  view.  As 
a  consequence,  the  prospectus  was  adversely  criti- 
cized in  the  financial  journals  and  the  city  columns 
of  the  daily  papers ;  and  the  Stock  Exchange  started 
a  nominal  quotation  of  %  discount  on  the  £i  share. 
A  rumor  that  Burgrave  was  applying  for  a  patent 
on  a  system  of  wireless  telephony  gained  ground; 
received  confirmation  from  Burgrave  himself;  and 
the  shares  before  allotment  were  heavily  "beared" 
by  speculators. 

Warde,  coming  down  to  Paradine's  City  offices  in 
Angel  Court  with  a  sheaf  of  newspapers  in  his 
hand,  ventured  to  express  the  doubts  he  was  feel- 
ing. "It  doesn't  look  as  though  we  shall  get  that 
£50,000,  or  anything  near  it,"  he  said. 

"This  is  your  initiation  into  finance,"  returned 
Sir  Wilmer,  smiling  imperturbably.  "Wait  a  week. 
Meanwhile,  go  about  and  meet  men  and  look 
gloomy." 

That  order  was  easy  to  carry  out.  Warde  was 
worried  over  this  check  right  at  the  beginning  of 
their  business  partnership.  He  could  not  share 
Paradine's  optimism  as  to  the  obtaining  of  the 
share  capital.  The  criticisms  of  the  financial  papers 
seemed  to  him  well  justified,  and  he  felt  that  he 
could  have  drafted  a  better  prospectus  himself,  even 
with  his  limited  knowledge  of  company  finance. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  fact  of  Burgrave  being  about 
to  patent  did  not  disturb  him.  He  had  carried 


166  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

away,  in  his  brain,  the  really  valuable  later  develop- 
ments of  the  wireless  system.  What  was  left  to 
Burgrave  was  an  immature  method  and  highly  pro- 
visional types  of  apparatus,  and  if  these  were 
patented,  Warde  could  easily  out  of  his  later  knowl- 
edge improve  on  them  and  secure  new  and  master 
patents.  He  had  no  doubts  of  the  scientific  end — 
his  own  province — but  he  felt  anxious  over  the 
success  of  the  flotation,  Sir  Wilmer's  end. 

Within  a  week,  his  anxiety  was  laid  to  rest  and  a 
belief  in  Paradine  firmly  established.  The  bear 
raid  on  "W.  Tels"  (as  the  market  nicknamed  the 
stock)  sent  the  shares  down  to  I2s.  Paradine' s 
brokers  bought  in  all  that  was  offered  by  specu- 
lators. The  allotments  went  nearly  all  to  Para- 
dine's  own  nominees.  As  a  consequence,  they  ef- 
fected a  neat  little  "bear  corner."  Those  who  had 
rashly  sold  could  not  get  stock  to  deliver  at  settle- 
ment except  by  purchasing  from  Paradine's  dummy 
nominees.  W.  Tels  shot  up  magically,  and  at  the 
special  settlement  day,  three  months  later,  the  £i 
shares  were  standing  at  the  purely  nominal  figure 
of  £10  and  no  sellers.  They  could  have  been  at  £20 
or  £50,  had  Sir  Wilmer  cared  to  press  his  advan- 
tage. But  he  did  not  do  so.  His  reasons  were  set 
out  when  one  of  the  "bears"  came  to  settle  in 
private,  Warde  being  present  at  the  interview  in 
order  to  gain  insight  into  finance. 

"This  is  just  a  damned  rig,"  protested  the  specu- 
lator sulkily.  "I've  a  good  mind  to  get  the  Stock 
Exchange  Committee  to  investigate  and  cancel  all 
dealings." 

"If  it  were  a  rig,"  replied  Pardine  pleasantly, 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  167 

"you  would  have  to  pay  about  £50  apiece  for  your 
shares  instead  of  £10.  No — it's  intended  as  a  little 
lesson  for  you  market  scalpers.  Don't  try  bear 
raids  on  my  companies.  It's  too  dangerous.  I 
only  take  up  winning  propositions.  This  wireless 
system  of  Mr.  Warde's" — turning,  he  indicated  Hil- 
ary sitting  quietly  in  the  background — "is  perhaps 
the  finest  thing  I  have  yet  touched.  Let  Mr.  Warde 
talk  to  you  about  it.  The  shares  will  certainly  be 
worth  £10  apiece  in  the  near  future,  when  we  come 
to  float  our  subsidiaries." 

About  £80,000  was  the  amount  cleared  by  Para- 
dine's  shrewd  manipulation,  while  the  stock  re- 
mained practically  all  in  his  own  and  partners'  pos- 
session. That  gave  them  ample  working  capital, 
but  it  was  only  the  beginning  of  Sir  Wilmer's  mar- 
ket maneuvers.  He  made  money  when  Warde's 
master-patent  was  applied  for  and  the  shares  rose 
swiftly;  he  made  further  money  when  the  wording 
of  the  application,  as  he  expected,  caused  the  patent 
to  be  refused,  and  the  shares  as  quickly  dropped; 
he  made  still  more  money  when  a  new  application 
found  favor  with  the  Comptroller  of  Patents.  With 
inside  knowledge  anticipating  the  zig-zags  of  share 
fluctuation,  it  was  easy  for  so  experienced  a 
manipulator  as  Paradine  to  gain  on  the  downs  as 
well  as  on  the  ups.  At  the  end  of  four  years,  the 
present  company  was  worth  £200,000  in  cash  and 
properties,  obtained  solely  by  share  manipulation 
without  a  penny's  income  from  transmission  of 
wireless  messages.  Burgrave,  a  business  man  pure 
and  simple,  could  never  have  developed  in  that 
fashion. 


168  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Warde  was  given  practically  carte  blanche  in  his 
expenditure  for  experiments  and  the  erection  of 
transmitting  stations.  He  engaged  a  whole  corps 
of  technical  assistants,  and  spent  money  furiously 
in  order  to  advance  his  system  as  rapidly  as  possible. 
At  the  scientific  end,  his  was  the  master-mind.  He 
had  not  only  to  transmit  over  long  distances;  he 
had  also  to  invent  methods  of  sending  messages 
which  could  not  be  "tapped"  from  outside — tuning 
the  ether  waves  to  a  definite  pitch  corresponding  to 
the  pitch  of  the  particular  receiving  station;  he 
had  to  overcome  the  problem  of  the  "daylight  drop," 
which  meant  that  in  sunlight  his  range  of  trans- 
mission dropped  by  thirty  or  forty  per  cent. ;  and 
above  all,  he  had  to  develop  the  "television"  side 
of  his  inventions,  enabling  those  who  talked  by 
wireless  not  only  to  hear  but  also  to  see  a  thousand, 
two  thousand,  three  thousand  miles  away. 

Burgrave  had  long  since  dropped  out  of  the 
running;  but  Rademeyer,  Schultz  and  Maccallum 
working  on  lines  of  their  own  with  a  heavy  Govern- 
ment subsidy  behind  them,  were  developing  a  very 
formidable  rival  system.  At  one  time  they  had 
tried  to  contest  Warde's  master-patent  in  the  Ger- 
man courts,  which  involved  months  of  attendance 
at  Berlin  and  Leipzig  on  the  part  of  Warde  and 
Paradine,  and  nearly  £50,000  in  legal  costs.  The 
English  firm  had  triumphed  finally  in  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  then  the  Germans  had  bent  their  energies 
to  the  evolving  of  a  radically  new  system,  helped 
by  the  biggest  of  their  scientists. 

In  the  fifth  year  of  partnership,  Paradine  floated 
a  subsidiary  company  to  manufacture  apparatus  and 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  169 

sell  it  to  ocean-going  vessels.  This  time  there  was 
no  rigging  of  shares  or  creation  of  artificial  values. 
The  success  of  Warde's  inventions  was  thoroughly 
well  known,  and  the  English  public  rushed  to  sub- 
scribe for  stock.  A  large  factory  was  established 
in  Sheffield,  and  the  commercial  era  of  wireless 
telephony  had  begun.  Up  to  then  the  profits  had 
been  purely  financial ;  now  they  were  establishing  a 
more  enduring  mercantile  basis. 

For  Warde,  it  meant  endless  organization  work. 
****** 

On  Eve's  side,  the  social  career  she  had  dreamt 
of  had  not  progressed  with  the  rapidity  of  Hilary's 
career. 

There  had  been  two  little  daughters,  Betty  and 
Mona,  needing  her  care  and  attention  for  the  early 
years  of  married  life.  Then  came  her  husband's 
ever-growing  preoccupation  in  the  affairs — scien- 
tific, financial,  legal  and  commercial — of  wireless 
telephony.  When  she  might  be  needing  him  for 
her  social  functions — dinners,  receptions  and 
dances;  or  to  take  her  to  the  Riviera  for  Mi- 
Careme;  to  Aix,  Baden  or  Marienbad;  to  Ascot, 
Henley,  Goodwood,  Cowes,  the  moors — he  would 
be  called  away  by  the  necessities  of  his  work.  For 
weeks  at  a  time  he  would  be  out  on  the  ocean  ex- 
perimenting; there  were  whole  months  spent  in 
fighting  the  Rademeyer  firm  in  the  courts  of  Berlin 
and  Leipzig;  he  had  to  travel  to  Newfoundland  to 
establish  a  wireless  station;  and  even  in  London 
the  calls  of  his  scientific  and  organizing  work  tore 
him  from  her  by  night  as  well  as  by  day. 

It   was  not   that   money   was   lacking   to   her. 


170  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Warde  poured  all  his  monetary  gains  at  her  feet. 
He  lived  up  to  his  income  and  far  beyond,  mort- 
gaging future  prospects  with  Paradine,  who  made 
no  difficulty  in  advancing  what  he  asked  for.  All 
that  Eve  could  reasonably  desire  in  the  material 
way  he  gave  her  unstintingly.  Their  town  house 
in  Cadogan  Square  was  in  itself  equivalent  to  over 
a  thousand  a  year;  to  that  had  to  be  added  their 
river  cottage  at  Maidenhead,  motors,  jewelry,  dress 
and  the  thousand  incidentals  of  social  life. 

But  he  could  not  give  her  himself — his  time,  at- 
tention and  solicitude  in  the  minor  matters  in  the 
way  she  had  vaguely  dreamt  of  in  the  summer  of 
their  half -engagement.  In  girlish  fashion  she  had 
pictured  a  marriage  of  love  as  a  perpetual  duet. 
A  marriage  of  convenience,  as  with  Esk,  would  of 
course  be  a  mere  living  together  for  mutual  advan- 
tages; but  with  Warde  the  glamour  of  love  had 
suggested  a  companionship  idealized,  etherealized, 
raised  above  the  plane  of  the  material.  He  would 
be  always  with  her;  their  desires  would  be  one; 
their  mutual  claims  paramount. 

As  it  was,  Hilary  gave  to  her  his  love,  his  fidel- 
ity, his  money — but  not  his  time. 


CHAPTER   II 

A  DEATH-BED  TRUST 

"Sir  Wilmer  wishes  you  to  come  over  at  once." 

This  was  the  message,  through  his  own  wireless 
system,  which  Warde  received  from  Brussels  in  the 
autumn  of  the  fifth  year  of  partnership.  It  was 
Paradine's  valet  who  spoke,  and  his  voice  trembled. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Warde. 

"It's  a  tragedy,  sir,"  faltered  the  valet.  "Please 
come  at  once.  It  will  have  to  be  hushed  up.  Sir 
Wilmer  needs  you  urgently.  You  are  not  to  say 
anything  to  anybody,  sir,  but  travel  over  at  once." 

Warde  hastily  'phoned  to  Eve  to  have  a  bag 
packed  for  him  and  sent  to  Charing  Cross  station, 
and  just  managed  to  catch  the  morning  train,  land- 
ing him  in  Brussels  in  the  later  afternoon.  The 
brief  message — "A  tragedy,"  "to  be  hushed  up," 
"urgently  needed" — caused  him  acute  anxiety. 
The  five  years  of  partnership  with  Paradine  had 
established  a  warm  friendship  between  them. 
Paradine  had  done  all  that  he  had  promised  for 
Warde,  and  more.  He  had  been  liberal  with  mone- 
tary arrangements,  generous  with  advances,  broad- 
minded  in  regard  to  expenditure  on  research  work, 
confidential  with  his  own  business  plans.  He  had 
shown  respect  for  Warde's  opinions,  and  he  had 
171 


172  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

taught  the  young  fellow  a  world  of  specialized 
knowledge  in  men  and  finance.  Once  Warde  had 
made  that  first  plunge,  throwing  off  the  scruples 
which  hampered  him,  relations  between  them  had 
developed  with  splendid  smoothness. 

Warde  was  shown  into  a  bedroom  of  the  same 
flat  in  the  Rue  Mazarin  he  had  visited  five  years 
before.  Sir  Wilmer  lay  back,  deathly  white,  on 
the  pillows  of  a  Louis  Quinze  four-poster  bed, 
incongruous  in  its  flippant  decorativeness,  as  the 
furniture  in  general  was  incongruous,  with  the 
gravity  of  his  state.  A  doctor  and  a  nurse  were  in 
attendance. 

Sir  Wilmer  lighted  up  with  a  faint  gleam  of 
pleasure  at  seeing  Warde,  and  in  a  voice  scarcely 
above  a  whisper  asked  that  the  doctor  and  nurse 
should  withdraw. 

"Dix  minutes.  Pas  plus,"  allowed  the  medical 
man  as  he  left  the  room. 

"My  dear  Paradine — whatever  has  happened?" 
asked  Warde  in  deep  distress. 

"Clothilde — you  remember  her? — shot  me. 
Through  the  lungs.  Jealousy — revenge — it  doesn't 
matter.  She  shot  me.  I'm  dying.  That's  all  that 
matters.  Don't  want  her  arrested.  What  good 
would  it  do?  Don't  want  anyone  to  know.  Doc- 
tor thinks  I  shot  myself  accidentally." 

A  fit  of  coughing  sent  him  back  on  the  pillows  in 
exhaustion. 

Warde,  holding  his  hand  gently,  waited  in  silence 
for  his  further  words.  At  such  a  time  it  was 
cruelty  to  waste  a  dying  man's  strength  by  ques- 
tioning, or  to  attempt  consolations  and  hopes  that 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  173 

could  not  deceive  him.  Paradine  knew  that  his 
hours  were  numbered,  and  he  had  big  matters  to 
confide  to  Warde. 

Presently  he  resumed  in  a  whisper.  "Made  a 
will  this  morning.  Signed  and  all  in  order.  Leave 
all  my  interests  in  W.  Tels  to  you." 

Warde  was  greatly  surprised  as  well  as  deeply 
touched  by  this  gift.  He  answered:  "That's 
awfully  good  of  you!  But  your  family — all  your 
nephews  and  nieces — it  doesn't  seem  quite  fair  that 
a  stranger  should " 

"They  get  the  rest.  They  haven't  done  much 
for  me.  I  want  you  to  have  all  my  holdings  in 
W.  Tels.  Listen  why.  When  I  first  tried  to  get 
hold  of  you — remember,  dinner  at  my  flat  in  Lon- 
don?— I  only  wanted  to  make  money  out  of  wire- 
less. Only  that — nothing  more.  But  this  thing 
has  grown  beyond  me.  It's  been  too  big  for  me. 
Carried  me  along.  I've  been  an  instrument.  Re- 
member your  words,  'England  mistress  of  the 
ether'?  That's  the  real  driver  of  you  and  me — 
now.  Just  an  idea,  but  stronger  than  you  or  me  or 
anyone  else  in  the  organization.  The  real  driver. 
Using  us  all  as  instruments." 

Warde  suddenly  felt  mean  and  petty.  In  the 
last  couple  of  years  the  whirlpool  of  money-making 
had  dazed  his  finer  feelings.  The  larger  ambition 
had  become  dulled  over  by  the  strivings  of  the 
immediate  present.  Paradine,  with  the  clear- 
sightedness of  the  dying,  knew  that  his  own  ex- 
ample had  smirched  Warde,  and  in  the  short  space 
of  life  that  remained  to  him,  he  was  trying  to  put 
back  the  clock  five  years. 


174.  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Continuing:  "What  I'm  leaving  you  is  a  trust. 
To  make  the  idea  reality.  Not  for  your  own  pleas- 
ures. A  trust.  I  want  you  to  be  the  instrument- 
in-chief.  Take  control  of  everything — scientific 
end,  financial,  commercial.  Cos  way"  (one  of  the 
directors  of  the  parent  company)  "is  only  a  City 
man.  Thornton"  (the  managing  director  of  the 
Sheffield  works)  "is  only  a  business  man.  They're 
older  than  you,  but  that's  nothing.  You  must  be 
boss.  If  they  won't  work  on  the  big  lines  when  I'm 
dead,  clear  them  out.  The  shares  I'm  leaving  you 
will  almost  give  you  control.  If  you  need  to  out- 
vote them,  buy  some  extra  stock  in  the  market,  use 
it  for  voting  purposes,  and  sell  out  again  when  the 
voting's  over.  Follow  me  ?" 

Warde  pressed  the  hand  he  held  in  understanding 
and  gratitude  and  something  akin  to  awe.  The 
strain  of  this  long  conversation  on  Paradine's  feeble 
strength  was  clear  in  his  features.  He  was  now 
talking  on  pure  nerve — by  strength  of  will  power 
alone. 

The  doctor  entered  authoritatively  to  close  this 
interview  with  its  strain  on  the  dying  man,  but 
Paradine  waved  him  away. 

"Allez-vous-en!"  he  whispered  fiercely,  and  broke 
into  a  prolonged  fit  of  coughing. 

Warde  motioned  the  doctor  away. 

Presently  Paradine  summoned  up  will  power  once 
more  and  resumed:  "You  must  get  the  Govern- 
ment to  finance  wireless.  I've  been  working  on  the 
hundred  thousand  scale;  you  must  work  on  the 
million  scale.  Must  be  done  quickly,  or  Rademeyer 
will  get  ahead.  Be  a  stiff  task  to  harness  up  the 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  175 

British  Government.  That's  your  work  now.  My 
money  is  in  trust  with  you  to  do  it.  No  scruples. 
If  necessary,  buy  men.  One  consideration  only—- 
England mistress  of  the  ether.  Nothing  else." 

"As  God  is  my  witness,"  answered  Warde  with 
deep  feeling,  "I'll  be  loyal  to  your  trust." 

Paradine's  pleasure  was  evident  in  the  relaxing 
of  his  strained  features.  He  paused  for  a  few 
moments,  seeking  round  in  his  thoughts  for  any 
other  matters  he  ought  to  confide  to  Warde. 

"Another  point.  When  it's  known  that  I'm  dead, 
the  shares  of  the  companies  will  go  down.  You 
must  anticipate  that — 'bear'  them  and  make  money. 
If  I  die  to-night,  you  must  keep  my  death  secret 
until  you've  worked  the  market." 

Warde,  horrified,  tried  to  protest,  but  Paradine 
cut  him  short.  "No  scruples — you  promised  me. 
Only  one  consideration.  Nothing  else  to  count. 
You  and  I  are  merely  instruments.  That's  the  last 
thing  I  can  do — die  and  make  the  market  fluctuate 
for  us." 

The  grim  humor  of  it  seemed  to  please  the  dying 
man.  He  added:  "My  last  twist  to  the  market. 
You  promise?" 

"I  promise,"  murmured  Warde. 

"Good." 

Sir  Wilmer  relaxed,  and  presently  dropped  off 
into  a  light  doze. 

The  doctor  and  nurse  returned  to  watch  him. 

After  he  had  laid  his  trust  on  Warde,  Paradine's 
effort  of  will  power  was  no  longer  called  for.  His 
further  words  were  merely  weak  murmurings, 


176  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

semi-delirious — vague  snatches  of  disconnected 
memories. 

He  died  in  the  small  hours  of  the  morning  with- 
out recovering  full  consciousness. 

Warde's  duties  were  grim  and  distasteful.  He 
had  to  keep  the  death  secret  until  midday  in  order 
to  work  the  London  market;  hush  up  the  manner 
of  death ;  pacify  the  Brussels  police  authorities ;  con- 
vey the  body  back  to  England  for  burial;  explain 
to  relatives;  see  to  legal  arrangements. 

But  through  it  all  he  felt  that  Paradine  had 
passed  on  to  him  a  torch  to  be  kept  burning  with 
all  his  energies  of  mind  and  body. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE  FIGHT    FOR  CONTROL 

It  caused  a  decided  sensation  in  City  circles  when 
it  became  known  that  the  whole  of  Paradine's  hold- 
ings in  wireless  telephony  had  been  transferred  to 
Warde.  He  had,  of  course,  established  his  reputa- 
tion in  the  research  field — the  technical  end  of  the 
enterprise — but  as  an  organizing  financier  he  was 
an  unknown  quantity.  At  thirty-two  he  was 
scarcely  more  than  a  boy  compared  with  the  other 
directors  in  the  two  wireless  companies.  The  mar- 
ket price  of  the  shares  dropped  considerably. 
Warde,  with  the  money  he  had  made  by  the  pre- 
vious "bear"  sales,  bought  secretly  all  the  shares 
that  he  could  carry  on  margin.  He  had  to  fortify 
his  voting  position  for  a  possible  struggle  against 
his  co-directors. 

It  was  not  long  in  coming.  Some  three  months 
after  the  death  of  Paradine,  Cos  way  and  Thornton, 
on  the  Board  of  the  parent  company,  broached  the 
flotation  of  another  subsidiary  for  the  purpose  of 
manufacturing  in  Germany. 

They  discussed  it  in  Paradine's  offices  in  Angel 
Court,  which  Warde  had  taken  over. 

Thornton,  a  big-built,  heavy-jowled,  iron-gray 
177 


178  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

man,  used  to  command,  laid  out  a  pile  of  documents 
on  the  flat-topped  desk. 

"This" — he  indicated  a  clip  of  letters — "is  cor- 
respondence with  the  Bremen  Reichsport  Line. 
They  are  prepared  to  install  our  apparatus  on  all 
their  liners  if  we  can  meet  them  on  prices.  The 
German  Government  have  raised  a  100  per  cent, 
tariff  against  our  stuff.  That  kills  the  negotiation. 
The  alternative  suggested  by  them  is  to  form  a 
German  company  to  manufacture  in  Bremen,  we 
to  take  up  half  the  shares  and  have  representation 
on  the  Board." 

"And  receive  £25,000  as  a  clear  bonus,"  added 
Cosway,  a  trim,  smallish  man  with  an  easy  and 
rather  ingratiating  manner. 

"Let  me  see  their  plan  in  detail,"  said  Warde,  an 
ugly  connotation  of  "Bremen"  in  his  mind. 

Thornton  passed  over  a  draft  prospectus  in  Ger- 
man, with  an  English  translation. 

Warde  read  through  them  both  with  minute  care, 
comparing  clause  and  clause.  "A  half-and-half 
holding  is  too  dangerous  from  our  point  of  view," 
was  his  final  verdict.  "Clause  19  gives  a  casting 
vote  to  the  Chairman  as  well  as  a  share  vote.  The 
Chairman  is  the  President  of  the  line.  That  one 
extra  vote  gives  them  control.  I  advise  rejection 
of  the  offer." 

A  lively  discussion  took  place.  Thornton  had 
already  tried  for  a  three-fifths  holding,  but  the 
German  line  insisted  on  half-and-half.  He  de- 
clared that  if  this  offer  was  refused,  they  would 
infallibly  lose  the  big  contract.  Cosway  urged  the 
further  loss  of  immediate  profit  on  the  flotation. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  179 

"Then  they  take  up  the  Rademeyer  system!" 
concluded  Thornton  heatedly. 

"Let  them,"  said  Warde.  "There  are  two  ends 
to  wireless  communication,  transmitting  and  receiv- 
ing. The  one  is  useless  without  the  other.  If  our 
system  holds  the  big  shore  stations  in  England, 
France,  Spain,  Canada  and  the  States,  and  the  ma- 
jority of  English  ships  are  similarly  installed,  every 
other  Atlantic  liner  will  be  forced  sooner  or  later 
to  buy  from  us,  in  order  to  communicate  with  them. 
Atlantic  shore  stations  and  English  ships — that's 
where  we've  got  to  concentrate.  Let  the  B.  R.  L. 
either  go  without  or  get  their  Government  to  take 
off  the  tariff  against  us." 

"But  I  tell  you  they  will  install  the  Rademeyer 
system!"  retorted  Thornton,  pounding  the  desk. 
"It  simply  means  that  we  lose  installations  on  every 
German  liner.  Not  only  the  B.  R.  L.  boats,  but  all 
the  small  fry  as  well." 

"And  the  flotation  bonus,"  added  Cosway,  natur- 
ally seeing  his  own  province  in  the  foreground.  "I 
think  you  ought  to  trust  a  little  to  our  judgment. 
We've  seen  a  good  deal  of  finance  and  business.  I 
pass  on  the  prospectus;  Thornton  passes  on  the 
manufacturing  end.  This  isn't  a  scientific  question, 
or  we'd  take  your  opinion  blindly.  Come,  Warde, 
let's  join  hands  on  the  proposition.  Paradine  would 
have  done  so." 

"I  differ  on  that,"  said  Warde  firmly.  "I  was 
with  Sir  Wilmer  when  he  died,  and  he  left  me  a 
very  explicit  policy  to  carry  out.  The  first  con- 
sideration is  to  protect  the  interests  of  Great 
Britain.  If  we  put  up  half  the  money  for  a  Ger- 


180  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

man  controlled  company,  we're  weakening  those 
interests." 

"But  we're  a  business  concern,"  protested  Thorn- 
ton. 

"That  was  the  policy  Sir  Wilmer  set  me,"  re- 
turned Warde,  "and  for  that  reason  I  advise  rejec- 
tion of  the  B.  R.  L.  offer." 

More  discussion  ensued.    They  parted  unamiably. 

In  the  course  of  the  day,  the  shares  of  the  present 
company  rocketed  up.  Evidently  Thornton  and 
Cosway  were  buying  for  control,  so  that  they  might 
force  through  their  view  of  the  proposed  transac- 
tion at  a  company  meeting.  Warde' s  broker  tele- 
phoned to  know  if  Warde  wished  to  sell  out  the 
shares  he  had  previously  bought  on  margin.  They 
showed  a  nice  profit. 

"No,"  said  Warde.    "Hold  on." 

"Do  you  want  to  set  a  selling  limit?"  asked  the 
broker. 

"Not  yet." 

A  brisk  market  flutter  took  place  in  the  shares. 
From  £8  they  rose  to  10,  to  n,  to  11^2.  Warde 
still  refused  to  cash  the  big  personal  profit  in  sight, 
because  it  would  have  meant  selling  his  potential 
votes.  An  extraordinary  general  meeting  of  the 
company  was  called  to  pass  on  Thornton's  resolu- 
tion. Both  sides  circularized  the  list  of  share- 
holders for  voting  proxies. 

Warde,  through  his  broker,  called  for  delivery 
of  the  10,000  shares  he  had  bought  on  margin. 
Together  with  Paradine's  legacy  of  15,000  shares 
and  a  few  proxies  he  had  received  they  would  just 
secure  him  control  at  the  coming  meeting,  giving 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  181 

him  over  half  of  the  total  capital  of  50,000  shares. 

But  he  had  not  the  cash  with  which  to  pay  for 
them.  £80,000  was  the  sum  he  needed,  and  his 
personal  cash  assets  were  about  £10,000  gained  over 
the  death  of  Paradine.  There  was  a  paper  profit 
for  him  of  some  £30,000  if  he  closed  out  at  the 
moment  at  the  current  price  of  11^-^2,  but  to 
realize  that  profit  would  lose  him  his  voting  power. 

Warde  went  to  his  bank  for  the  loan,  offering  as 
security  the  shares  Paradine  had  left  him. 

The  banker,  a  man  of  long  experience  and  in- 
finite caution,  produced  a  Stock  Exchange  manual 
giving  the  past  fluctuations  of  industrial  shares,  and 
pointed  to  the  highly  erratic  record  of  W.  Tels  and 
its  subsidiary. 

"Up  and  down,  up  and  down,"  commented  the 
banker.  "There's  no  stability  in  your  shares.  They 

may  crumble  away  in  a  day.  Besides "  He 

paused. 

"Well?" 

"Why  need  you  take  up  these  10,000  shares  of 
yours?  If  you  close  them  to-day,  I  understand  you 
would  make  a  good  profit." 

"Yes,  about  £30,000;  but  I  need  the  votes  more 
than  the  money." 

"No,  pardon  me,  you  need  money  more  than  you 
need  votes." 

Warde  realized  the  inner  meaning  of  the  words. 
He  was  considered  to  be  too  young  to  be  in  control 
of  the  wireless  company.  Paradine  could  have 
raised  the  loan  almost  on  his  word  without  security, 
but  Warde  had  not  established  a  basis  of  credit  for 


182 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

himself.  Judged  by  Lombard  Street  standards,  he 
was  far  too  young. 

"How  much  will  you  loan  me?"  he  asked  after 
some  moments  of  thought. 

"Frankly,  I  don't  care  at  all  for  your  security; 
but  as  a  personal  favor  to  you  I  would  advance 
half  of  what  you  ask.  As  further  collateral,  I  shall 
also  require  an  insurance  policy  on  your  life  for, 
say,  £25,000." 

Warde  had  difficulty  in  controlling  his  anger  at 
this  essence  of  caution.  His  insurance  policy  had, 
of  course,  been  taken  out  for  the  benefit  of  Eve  and 
the  children,  and  he  had  no  intention  of  alienating 
it. 

That  night  he  went  home  furrowed  with  thought. 
The  problem  of  five  years  back  was  being  repeated. 
Then  it  was  only  eight  thousand  pounds  he  needed ; 
to-day  it  was  seventy  thousand;  yet  the  problem 
was  in  essence  the  same — to  obtain  credit  on  his 
personality.  He  now  had  acquaintances  who  would 
lend  him  money  on  the  scale  of  thousands,  but 
there  was  no  one  to  turn  to  on  the  scale  of  tens 
of  thousands,  no  other  Sir  Wilmer  Paradine.  He 
must  make  through  this  fight  alone. 

While  he  was  dressing  for  dinner,  Eve  came  to 
his  room.  "How  do  I  look?"  she  asked  smilingly. 

"Yourself  at  your  best,  and  that's  perfection,"  he 
answered.  "But  why  that  elaborate  gown?" 

"Surely  you  haven't  forgotten  that  it's  the  Saver- 
nay  dance  to-night?" 

"I  had  forgotten,"  he  confessed.  "I'm  worried, 
dear,  over  business  matters." 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  183 

"Tell  them  to  me  and  I'll  clear  them  up,"  said 
Eve  gayly. 

He  explained  in  detail,  but  Eve  became  tangled 
in  this  maze  of  votes  and  credit,  loan  and  collateral. 
The  one  fact  that  stood  out  boldly  with  her  was  the 
immediate  profit  of  £30,000  which  Warde  held  in 
his  hand  if  he  cared  to  close  his  shares. 

"Couldn't  you  take  the  profit?"  she  suggested. 
"We  could  do  a  lot  with  that  money." 

"It  would  be  right  against  the  grain  of  Para- 
dine's  policy." 

"Well,  you  know  best.  But  can't  you  leave 
thinking  till  to-morrow,  Hil  dear?" 

"I've  got  to  worry  it  out  to-night.  Time'-s 
short." 

"The  dance!"  she  protested. 

"I'll  join  you  there  later,  if  you  don't  mind.  I 
must  get  this  matter  settled  in  my  mind  first." 

"But  I  do  mind." 

"I'm  sorry.  As  soon  as  I've  straightened  it 
out " 

Eve,  nettled,  interrupted.  "It  is  unnecessary  for 
you  to  come  at  all.  I  can  return  in  the  car  alone." 

"I'll  join  you  later,"  he  repeated. 

After  dinner  Warde  buried  himself  in  thought. 
A  dozen  plans  for  raising  the  needed  money  came 
to  him,  fair-seeming  at  first,  but  each  with  the  small 
one  hitch  that  made  it  impracticable.  "Sell  my 
Paradine  shares,"  he  mused.  "...  Refuse  ac- 
tual delivery  until  a  fortnight  later.  .  .  .  Official 
buyer-in.  .  .  .  Fancy  price.  .  .  .  Force  me  to 
pay.  .  .  .  No,  impossible." 

It  was  over  an  hour  after  Eve  had  left  in  the 


184  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

car  for  General  Savernay's  that  the  real  scheme 
came  to  him,  and  he  began  absorbedly  on  a  fresh 
train  of  thought. 

Warde's  plan  was  daring  in  the  extreme. 
Though  he  had  failed  to  raise  the  money  to  pay 
for  10,000  shares,  he  set  himself  to  buy  a  further 
30,000.  This  was  not  simple.  If  he  ordered  such 
a  large  block  of  shares  to  be  bought  directly  on  the 
Exchange,  the  price  would  inevitably  be  run  up 
against  him  to  a  prohibitive  figure.  His  plan  was 
to  buy  and  sell  simultaneously  to  whip  the  market 
into  a  fever  of  indecision  as  to  what  was  happening 
behind  the  scenes,  and  then  trust  to  the  excitement 
of  the  moment  for  the  securing  of  his  shares  at  a 
reasonable  figure.  He  proposed  to  give  simul- 
taneously orders  to  sell  30,000  and  buy  60,000.  In 
broker's  commissions  alone  this  would  cost  him 
over  £10,000. 

Turning  to  his  bureau,  he  wrote  six  letters  to 
brokers  of  standing  whom  he  knew  by  reputation, 
and  who  probably  knew  of  him.  Each  letter  ex- 
pressed a  desire  to  open  an  account,  and  as  a  start 
to  have  10,000  shares  of  W.  Tels  bought  at  the 
market  price  at  the  opening  of  the  Exchange  the 
next  morning — a  quarter  to  eleven.  They  were  to 
telephone  early  in  the  morning  to  Cadogan  Square 
to  state  whether  they  wished  to  execute  this  order. 
No  doubt  they  would  accept,  since  buying  shares 
was  not  a  dangerous  operation. 

It  was  very  different  with  the  selling  of  W.  Tels. 
In  the  present  uncertain  state  of  the  market,  no 
reputable  broker  would  care  to  sell  a  large  quantity 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  185 

for  him,  unless  he  had  the  actual  shares  to  deliver 
in  case  of  necessity. 

He  therefore  'phoned  up  two  further  brokers  at 
their  private  houses,  and  arranged  interviews  for 
eleven-thirty  and  twelve-thirty  that  night.  Driving 
straight  to  each  in  a  taxi,  he  carried  with  him  the 
scrip  of  the  15,000  shares  left  by  Paradine.  With 
both  men  he  fixed  the  same  arrangement :  that  they 
should  each  sell  any  part  of  15,000  shares  in  the 
market  at  the  opening  of  the  Exchange  the  next 
morning.  The  sight  of  the  actual  scrip  smoothed 
away  their  doubts. 

It  was  a  plan  of  dubious  ethics.  In  effect,  Warde 
was  creating  for  the,  moment  a  fictitious  extra 
15,000  shares.  But  he  had  put  aside  scruples. 
Only  one  thing  counted:  to  carry  out  Paradine's 
trust. 

If  anything  should  go  wrong  in  this  terrific  gam- 
ble, he  would  be  cleaned  out  and  bankrupted.  He 
took  the  risk,  posted  his  six  buying  orders,  and 
went  to  the  Savernay  dance  to  find  Eve. 

"It's  all  settled,"  he  whispered  cheerfully. 

"I  can't  leave  yet,"  she  answered,  still  resentful 
of  his  neglect  of  her. 

"We'll  stay  as  long  as  you  like." 

Eve  smiled  gayly  to  an  approaching  partner,  and 
left  her  husband. 

Even  at  the  dance  Warde  was  not  free  from  the 
web  of  business.  Two  young  fellows  came  to  him 
confidentially  for  a  market  "tip."  "What's  doing 
in  your  shares  ?"  they  asked.  "Ought  we  to  buy  or 
sell?" 


186  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Warde  knew  them  for  men  of  ample  means. 
Again  he  put  aside  scruples. 

"Sell,"  he  answered.  "First  thing  to-morrow 
morning." 

"The  shares  are  going  to  drop  ?" 

"Yes — presently.  Don't  be  scared  by  fluctua- 
tions. Put  up  a  good  margin.  Keep  this  tip  to 
yourselves." 

But  he  knew  the  advice  would  be  spread  about. 

The  next  morning  Warde  stayed  at  home  instead 
of  going  to  his  offices  at  Angel  Court.  His  reason 
was  that  he  wanted  no  one  to  call  on  him  except  by 
telephone.  Five  of  the  buyers  accepted  the  buying 
orders;  the  sixth  demurred  and  demanded  a  cash 
guarantee.  Warde  at  once  offered  to  send  a  check 
for  £10,000  by  express  messenger,  as  cover,  and 
did  so. 

That  left  him  practically  penniless,  and  his  pos- 
sible liabilities  during  the  morning  would  total  to 
anything  between  £400,000  and  £600,000. 

He  gave  orders  that  he  was  "at  home"  to  no  one 
under  any  pretext  whatever,  and  locked  himself 
into  his  study  with  the  telephone  at  his  elbow.  He 
was  not  feverishly  excited,  for  he  had  passed  be- 
yond the  stage  into  a  "second  wind"  of  calmness. 
If  anything  went  wrong,  he  was  bankrupt,  and 
there  was  the  matter  clean  and  straight. 

In  the  City  that  Thursday  afterward  became 
known  as  "Warde's  day."  From  the  opening  rattle, 
the  industrial  market  was  a  bedlam  of  frantic 
shouting.  Six  brokers  offering  to  buy  W.  Tels  in 
thousands  were  countered  by  two  brokers  throw- 
ing stock  into  the  market  by  thousands.  Other 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  187 

brokers  as  the  result  of  the  spreading  of  Warde's 
"tip"  at  the  dance,  were  offering  to  sell  in  hundreds. 
Scalpers,  scenting  a  lively  game,  rushed  in  to  get 
their  share  of  the  spoil.  The  jobbers  of  the  indus- 
trial market  who  specialized  in  telegraphs  and  tele- 
phones— that  is,  made  books  on  the  shares — found 
themselves  besieged.  Struggling  groups  of  men 
shouted  and  flung  out  their  hands  in  the  sign-lan- 
guage of  the  Exchange  like  maniacs. 

By  eleven-thirty  Warde  learned  by  telephone  that 
he  had  sold  30,000  and  bought  60,000  shares.  His 
holdings  now  totaled: 

Paradine's  legacy  15,000  shares 

Previously  bought   10,000  shares 

Difference  on  the  morning 30,000  shares 


55,000  shares 

There  were  only  50,000  shares  in  existence.  He 
had  cornered  the  market  just  as  Paradine  had  done 
in  the  very  early  days  of  wireless  finance — but  on 
a  scale  ten  times  larger.  Someone  had  sold  5,000 
shares  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  deliver  ex- 
cept by  negotiating  with  Warde.  He  could  make 
his  own  price  for  them. 

But  the  cost  was  tremendous.  He  now  stood 
committed  to  find  £470,000  in  cash  by  pay  day. 

In  the  course  of  the  morning  the  jobbers  of  the 
industrial  market  refused  to  deal  further  with  the 
raging  crowd  of  brokers.  They  had  to  even  up 
their  books  and  find  out  exactly  where  they  stood. 
But  the  precaution  came  too  late.  They  had  over- 


188  TEVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

sold.  They  began  to  bid  for  shares  at  16,  18,  20, 
25,  30.  In  vain.  The  rumor  of  a  "corner"  had 
spread  like  running  quicksilver.  The  shares  were 
too  red-hot  to  handle.  No  one  dared  to  speculate 
further.  The  market  in  W.  Tels  came  to  a  stand- 
still; and  Warde  held  the  whip  hand. 
If  he  could  raise  £470,000 ! 


CHAPTER   IV 

AFTERMATH 

Two  days  before  pay  day,  and  a  week  before  the 
date  of  the  company  meeting  which  would  pass 
on  Thornton's  resolution,  two  jobbers  of  the  indus- 
trial market,  Helmsley  and  Leveson  by  name,  came 
to  call  on  Warde  at  Angel  Court. 

It  was  an  echo  of  that  interview  at  which  Warde 
had  silently  assisted  five  years  before.  He  had  seen 
how  Paradine  had  handled  such  a  situation,  and  he 
determined  to  work  on  a  similar  line. 

Helmsley  took  the  word.  "I've  oversold  three 
thousand  shares,  and  Leveson  two  thousand,"  he 
admitted.  "What's  your  price?" 

"£ioo  a  share — half  a  million  in  all,"  replied 
Warde  without  hesitation. 

"In  that  case  I  can't  pay.  I'd  rather  be  ham- 
mered." 

"It's  a  damn  rig!"  added  Leveson.  "I'll  let 
myself  be  hammered  too." 

"It's  not  a  rig,"  answered  Warde.  "I  don't 
want  to  squeeze  you  out  of  existence.  Let  me  put 
my  side  of  the  case  frankly  to  you.  I  need  to  hold 
control  at  the  coming  meeting  of  W.  Tels.  I'm 
taking  up  the  whole  of  the  shares,  and  I  want  half 
a  million  in  cash  or  its  equivalent.  Find  me  half 

189 


190  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

a  million  for  a  month,  and  a  million  for  a  month, 
and  I'll  let  you  have  the  5,000  shares  you  need  for 
the  price  of  20  instead  of  100.  Will  20  break 
you?" 

"You  mean  that  you've  swung  this  deal  without 
any  perceptible  cash?"  demanded  Helmsley. 

"No  cash  to  speak  of,"  admitted  Warde  readily. 

"Damn  cheek!"  commented  Leveson. 

"It  may  be.  Anyhow,  the  case  stands  like  this. 
Either  you  agree  to  get  me  a  loan  of  half  a  million 
for  a  month,  which  I  know  you  can  manage  with 
your  connections,  or  I'll  see  you  both  hammered, 
and  we'll  all  three  go  down.  Either  swim  together 
or  sink  together.  That's  my  proposal." 

Leveson  and  Helmsley  exchanged  guarded 
glances. 

"Suppose  you  go  into  the  next  room  and  talk 
it  over,"  suggested  Warde.  "My  offer  to  let  you 
have  the  shares  at  20  will  mean  that  you  can't  lose 
more  than  £35,000  over  the  transaction.  That  sum 
is  split  up  between  you.  It's  only  a  trifle  for  men 
of  your  standing." 

They  took  up  the  suggestion  and  withdrew. 
When  they  returned,  it  was  in  a  friendly  mood. 

"I  understand  you  want  the  half  million  to  pay 
for  your  shares  ?"  asked  Helmsley. 

"Yes — for  some  of  them." 

"Then  you'll  put  up  the  shares  as  security  for 
the  loan." 

"Naturally.  Get  that  half  million  into  my  bank, 
and  the  shares  will  be  there  in  due  order." 

"It's  a  deal,"  said  Helmsley,  holding  out  his  hand. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 191 

Leveson  did  likewise.  He  remarked :  "We  ought 
to  work  in  together — we  three." 

Warde  smiled  as  he  prepared  a  memorandum  of 
the  agreement.  "You  want  to  get  back  that 
£35,000." 

"From  outsiders,"  amended  Leveson. 

"I  see  no  objection.  You're  doing  me  a  friendly 
turn;  I  shan't  forget  it." 

The  banker  was  more  than  startled  at  finding  the 
huge  sum  of  half  a  million  pounds  paid  in  to 
Warde's  credit.  It  gave  him  a  new  respect  for  the 
young  man.  Lombard  Street  began  to  take  notice 
of  Warde. 

The  company  meeting  of  W.  Tels  was  now  a 
foregone  conclusion.  Thornton's  resolution  was  op- 
posed by  Warde ;  he  gave  his  reasons ;  he  explained 
that  he  held  control  as  a  direct  consequence  of  Sir 
Wilmer's  dying  wishes ;  the  matter  was  not  pressed 
to  a  vote. 

A  side  issue  of  the  gamble  came  in  the  indignant 
reproaches  of  the  two  young  Society  men  who  had 
followed  Warde's  "tip"  and  incurred  losses. 
Warde  recouped  them  without  hesitation.  They 
had  been  used  as  instruments  of  the  Driver,  and 
there  the  matter  finished. 

Before  the  end  of  the  stipulated  month  Warde 
had  sold  half  his  shares  and  was  able  to  repay 
most  of  the  half -million  loan.  The  remainder  he 
was  easily  able  to  carry  on  the  security  of  the 
25,000  share-holding  he  now  possessed. 

He  had  established  for  himself  a  basis  of  credit, 
and  had  created  a  healthy  respect  for  his  abilities 
as  a  financier. 


CHAPTER   V, 

GROWING  ENMITY 

In  the  six  months  that  followed,  one  point  be- 
came increasingly  clear  to  Warder  that  a  Govern- 
ment backing  of  wireless  telephony  was  essential  to 
its  stability. 

Enemies  were  rising  up  in  all  directions. 
Abroad,  the  Rademeyer  system  had  been  taken  up 
and  was  being  vigorously  pushed  by  the  big  men 
of  the  Bremen  Reichsport  Line,  the  leaders  of  the 
German  shipping  industry,  with  the  active  help  of 
their  Government.  Their  agents  were  seeking  over 
the  whole  world  for  suitable  transmission  stations. 
Since  German  colonies  were  few,  these  had  to  be 
found  on  alien  territory.  An  English  firm,  on  the 
other  hand,  could  blanket  the  earth  from  its  own 
star-scattered  colonies  and  protectorates,  and  had 
an  additional  advantage  in  the  preponderance  of 
British  shipping  on  the  seven  seas. 

In  the  nature  of  things,  an  English  firm  had  the 
best  chance  of  establishing  the  world  monopoly  of 
which  Warde  and  Paradine  had  dreamed. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  were  difficulties 
special  and  inherent.  The  existing  cable  com- 
panies and  wireless  telegraph  companies  were  most- 
ly British.  It  was  obviously  to  their  interests  to 

192 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  193 

crush  this  new  rival  offering  advantages  which 
telegraphy  could  not  hope  to  compete  with.  As 
Warde  had  said  to  Eve  on  Saltness,  "Who  tele- 
graphs nowadays  when  he  can  telephone?"  The 
cable  and  wireless  telegraph  firms  had  remained 
passive  while  Warde's  inventions  were  in  the  lab- 
oratory and  experimental  stages,  but  now  they  were 
becoming  actively  hostile. 

Further,  and  most  important  of  all,  there  was  the 
traditional  attitude  of  the  British  Government.  In- 
ventors are  allowed  to  struggle  through  the  evolu- 
tionary stages  on  their  own  resources,  to  settle  their 
commercial  wars  unaided ;  only  when  they  have  es- 
tablished a  virtual  monopoly  does  the  Government 
step  in  to  take  over  the  enterprise  on  the  valuation 
of  its  own  judges. 

And  beyond  this  again  was  yet  another  obstacle. 
A  couple  of  years  back  there  had  been  an  ugly 
scandal  in  connection  with  a  contract  for  wireless 
telegraphy.  Ministers  of  the  Crown  had  been  ac- 
cused of  filling  their  own  pockets;  a  Parliamentary 
Committee  had  investigated;  share  dealings  were 
ferreted  out ;  a  great  public  outcry  was  raised.  The 
affair  had  died  down,  and  the  Liberal  party  had 
been  replaced  in  office  by  a  Tory  administration, 
but  the  lesson  of  it  remained.  Ministers  were 
more  than  ever  averse  to  dealings  with  commercial 
concerns. 

The  Boards  of  W.  Tels  and  the  Sheffield  com- 
pany had  now  been  won  over  to  Warde's  leadership, 
and  were  working  with  him  wholeheartedly.  They, 
equally,  saw  the  dangers  threatening  from  rival  in- 


194  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

terests  and  the  necessity  of  having  a  Government 
backing.  They  looked  to  Warde  to  secure  it. 

As  a  first  step,  he  proposed  the  buying  of  a  daily 
newspaper  in  which  to  set  their  case  before  the 
public,  and  his  co-directors  agreed.  The  journal 
in  question,  "The  Daily  Courier,"  was  in  a  mori- 
bund condition. 

Warde  went  to  the  owner  and  offered  to  take 
up  £50,000  of  debentures;  in  return,  it  was  under- 
stood that  the  "Courier"  should  advocate  Govern- 
ment co-operation  in  the  development  of  wireless 
telephony. 

Paradine  had  said,  "Buy  men."  Warde  was  do- 
ing so.  The  "Courier"  would  help  in  educating 
public  opinion,  even  though  its  circulation  was 
limited.  But  other  papers,  subsidized  by  rival  inter- 
ests, endeavored  to  drive  public  opinion  in  the 
opposite  direction,  and  Warde  was  made  the  object 
of  bitter  personal  attacks.  The  secession  from 
Burgrave  six  years  ago  was  thrown  against  him. 
He  was  accused  of  having  stolen  the  results  of  the 
early  experiments  from  Burgrave.  That,  in  es- 
sence, was  true.  It  was  irrefutable.  To  bring  a 
libel  action  against  the  rival  newspaper  would 
merely  stir  up  further  mud. 

Warde  was  satirized  to  the  public  in  the  guise 
of  the  unprincipled  city  shark.  If  he  asked  for 
Government  help  for  his  wireless  system,  the  public 
might  be  sure  it  was  only  to  feather  his  own  nest. 
His  talk  of  Empire  considerations  was  the  merest 
bluff — cheap  jingoism  designed  to  curry  favor. 
His  appearance — thin  to  the  point  of  leanness,  rest- 
less energy  burning  through  his  features — was 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  195 

caricatured  as  the  hungry  leanness  of  the  wolf, 
whilst  his  dress — tweeded  and  simplicity  itself — 
became  checks  of  outrageous  pattern.  This  is 
how  the  public  began  to  picture  Hilary  Warde, 
and  no  photographs  could  undeceive  them.  Car- 
toons are  always  believed  in  preference  to  photo- 
graphs. 

Naturally  he  had  many  so-called  friends.  Any 
successful  man  becomes  surrounded  by  those  who 
want  money  from  him  directly  or  indirectly.  The 
real  friends  of  his  school  and  college  and  early 
professional  days  had  dropped  away.  They  had 
resented  his  leaving  the  conventional  lines  of  a  scien- 
tific career,  and  they  resented  still  more  that  in  the 
unconventional  he  had  found  success.  It  reflected 
on  themselves.  Relations  said :  "  There's  Warde, 
of  your  own  year  at  college.  Look  at  the  position 
he's  made  for  himself.  Worth  a  quarter  million. 
Look  at  yourself,  earning  a  miserable  five  hundred 
a  year.  Why  don't  you  do  something  ?  "  That 
made  for  resentment  against  Warde.  Life's  failures 
often  have  hosts  of  friends,  because  a  failure  makes 
a  pleasant  foil  to  vanity.  It  feeds  self-complacency 
to  be  able  to  say :  "  Poor  old  Blank,  nobody's 
enemy  but  his  own !  I  always  knew  he  would  never 
get  far.  Let's  invite  him  to  stay  with  us  a  few 
days.  It  will  be  a  real  charity."  That  is  a  very 
current  attitude  towards  the  failure  in  the  conven- 
tional ruck — the  idler,  the  waster,  or  the  unlucky. 
But  for  the  man  who  strikes  out  on  lines  of  his  own, 
and  becomes  what  the  world  calls  successful,  there  is 
little  but  resentful  envy  from  his  contemporaries < 
He  has  outraged  their  judgment  and  disproved  their 


196  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

prophecies.  Such  success  has  to  make  on  alone  or 
choose  new  club-mates. 

It  was  true  that  Warde  was  worth  nearly  a 
quarter  million  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  year  of  W. 
Tels.  Yet  he  was  not  a  rich  man  in  the  usual  sense 
of  the  word.  His  money  was  tied  up  in  shares  of 
the  two  companies  necessary  to  give  him  control  if 
he  were  at  any  time  to  differ  on  a  vital  question 
with  his  co-directors.  At  present  they  were  work- 
ing together  very  harmoniously  in  give-and-take 
fashion,  but  he  must  be  prepared  for  a  possible 
split  one  day  on  a  big  question  of  policy.  His 
money  was,  in  effect,  trust  money.  The  capital  was 
to  be  conserved  and  increased  for  control  purposes. 
The  dividends  on  it  must  suffice  for  his  own,  for 
Eve's  and  the  children's  needs,  until  the  day  came 
when  the  Empire  monopoly  had  been  established. 

Therefore  he  spent  as  little  as  possible  outside  the 
requirements  of  his  family.  He  was  stigmatized 
as  "mean"  by  those  who  wanted  to  see  him  open- 
handed  to  their  own  benefit.  He  made  yet  more 
enemies. 

Warde  did  not  regret  the  giving  up  of  research 
work  necessitated  by  the  many  other  demands  of 
his  position.  The  newer  interests  called  for  a 
wider  mentality.  He  had  not  only  to  deal  with 
Nature,  but  also  with  the  infinitely  varied  mind  of 
man.  He  had  to  bend  men  to  his  will  as  he  had 
bent  the  ether  waves  to  the  curvature  of  the  earth; 
he  had  to  fight  self-interest,  conservatism,  obstinacy. 
It  was  engrossing  work — demanding  the  whole  en- 
ergies of  mind  and  body,  calling  for  constant  vigi- 
lance of  forethought.  No  sooner  was  one  problem 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  197 

settled  than  half  a  dozen  others  urged  his  interest. 

Those  six  years,  in  developing  mind  powers,  had 
hardened,  or  coarsened,  character.  He  knew  his 
own  strength,  and  he  made  others  know  it.  At 
times,  in  business  matters,  when  obstinate  foolish- 
ness opposed  him,  he  became  brutal.  The  finer 
scruples  had  been  sloughed  away.  Those  who 
stood  in  the  way  of  the  Driver  had  to  be  thrust 
aside. 

His  home-life  had  not  developed  altogether  in  the 
fashion  he  dreamed  of  that  summer  when  he  had 
eaten  his  heart  out  for  love  of  Eve.  After  six  years 
of  married  life,  she  was  still  something  of  an 
enigma  to  him.  The  early  self-abandonment  of 
passionate  love  had  given  place,  on  his  side,  to  a 
steady  affection — sober,  undemonstrative.  He 
wanted  no  other  woman;  yet  in  his  inner  thoughts 
there  was  something  of  disappointment.  His  career 
pulled  against  hers.  She  was  not  greatly  interested 
in  his  affairs  except  in  so  far  as  they  advanced  his 
monetary  or  social  position.  If  he  could  have  said 
to  her,  "I'm  worth  a  quarter  million.  To-morrow  I 
give  up  business  and  retire,"  she  would  have  hailed 
the  announcement  with  delight. 

Eve  was  still  a  creature  of  illogical  moods,  many 
of  them  beyond  his  understanding.  At  times  she 
would  be  openly  affectionate — more  so  than  him- 
self— while  the  very  next  day  she  might  be  angrily 
resentful  at  some  trifle  of  enforced  neglect.  The 
six  years  had  also,  but  in  a  different  way,  hardened 
her  character.  She  was  no  longer  simple  and  un- 
affected— an  enamel  of  wordliness  had  slowly 
formed  around  her.  She  was,  in  fact,  a  Meren- 


198  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

thorpe — the  product  of  dozens  of  generations  of 
land-owning,  socially  occupied  ancestors.  In  out- 
ward appearance,  Eve  had  developed  from  the  slen- 
der gracefulness  of  girlhood  into  a  finely  figured, 
glowing  woman  whose  every  movement  was  a  har- 
mony of  line.  She  was  undoubtedly  the  beauty  of 
the  family. 

The  two  little  daughters,  Betty  and  Mona,  were 
idolized  by  their  father.  Eve  had  not  the  instinct 
of  motherhood  very  strongly  developed.  It  is  so 
with  many  women — a  matter  of  natural  tempera- 
ment, by  no  means  a  matter  of  heartlessness.  Eve 
cared  for  her  children;  was  proud  of  them;  but 
there  were  long  periods  during  which  her  multi- 
tudinous engagements  caused  her  to  see  very  little 
of  them. 

On  the  social  plane  she  envied  Viola.  Geoffrey 
Armadale  had  gone  into  Parliament,  on  the  change 
of  party  reins  had  become  an  Under-Secretary  to 
the  War  Office  in  the  Tory  administration,  and 
his  wife  had  made  herself  a  political  hostess  of  con- 
siderable influence. 

Beatrice,  ever  independent,  had  not  married. 
She  had  elected  herself  organizing  secretary  of  a 
women's  enfranchisement  league,  and  her  biting 
tongue  and  pen  made  her  a  formidable  thorn  in  the 
side  of  politicians  of  both  parties. 

Ralph,  after  a  breach  of  promise  suit  with  an 
actress  which  had  cost  the  family  over  £20,000,  had 
exchanged  into  an  Indian  regiment  and  had  gained 
in  India  some  reputation  as  the  owner  of  a  racing 
stud. 


CHAPTER  VI 

AT   LOUVAULX 

"I  wish,"  said  Hilary  reflectively  to  his  wife  as 
he  stroked  Betty's  golden  curls  one  evening,  "that 
you  would  get  an  invitaion  for  us  to  Louvaulx." 

This  was  the  Armadale  shooting-box  in  York- 
shire. 

"I  thought  we  had  settled  on  the  motor  tour  in 
the  Carpathians,"  answered  Eve. 

"The  reason,  dear,  is  that  Kerr-Dyce  is  invited. 
I  heard  to-day  indirectly.  I  want  to  get  Kerr- 
Dyce  on  our  side,  and  you  could  help  in  this  tre- 
mendously. Meeting  him  casually  at  a  dinner  or 
reception  wouldn't  be  one-tenth  as  effective  as  be- 
ing in  touch  with  him  for  a  week  or  fortnight." 

The  Right  Hon.  Alston  Kerr-Dyce  was  Post- 
master-General in  the  Tory  Government.  The 
question  of  any  contract  with  Warde's  company 
would  be  in  his  province — naturally,  to  be  approved 
of  by  the  Cabinet  in  general,  but  in  the  first  place 
to  be  decided  on  his  responsibility. 

Eve  took  up  the  suggestion  whole-heartedly. 
This  was  work  that  appealed  to  her.  It  was  on  a 
different  plane  to  Warde's  financial  strivings;  it 
was  in  line  with  her  own  social  ambitions.  She 
welcomed  the  idea  of  being  able  to  exert  political 
influence. 

199 


200  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"I'll  write  at  once  to  Vi.    She's  at  Goodwood." 

"Can  I  come  too?"  put  in  little  Betty,  popping 
out  from  an  apparent  sleepiness.  "I'll  give  him 
a  kiss." 

Warde  laughed  at  his  five-year-old  coquette. 

"No,  darling,"  said  Eve.  "Aunt  Margaret  is 
going  to  take  you  and  Mona  to  the  seaside.  Won't 
you  like  to  be  with  Aunt  Margaret?" 

Betty  pouted,  a  tiny  miniature  of  her  mother. 

The  nurse  entered  to  announce  bedtime  for  her 
charge. 

"I  don't  want  to  go  to  bed!"  wailed  the  little 
maiden,  clinging  to  her  father. 

"Another  quarter  of  an  hour?"  begged  Hilary. 

"You'd  spoil  her,"  said  Eve  firmly.  "No,  bed- 
time." 

****** 

Viola  readily  gave  the  invitation  asked  for  by 
her  sister.  Louvaulx,  though  modestly  called  a 
shooting-box,  was  a  fine  old  Georgian  house  in  the 
North  Riding  of  Yorkshire,  bordering  sea  and 
moor,  surrounded  by  extensive  woods,  farms  and 
moorland.  For  six  weeks  in  August  and  Septem- 
ber, Geoffrey  and  Viola  entertained  a  shooting- 
party;  another  month  or  so  in  the  early  spring 
found  it  occupied;  for  the  rest  of  the  year  it  was 
silent  emptiness,  save  for  the  caretakers.  Arma- 
dale  had  laid  out  a  sporting  golf-course  in  a  valley 
on  the  estate,  since  shooting  alone  was  not  sufficient 
for  the  modern-day  amusement  of  a  house-party. 
Kerr-Dyce  was  well  known  as  a  golfing  enthusiast. 
Warde,  although  not  much  of  a  hand  with  the 
game,  was  a  hard-hitting  golfer,  enjoying  the  game 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  201 

in  the  very  limited  leisure  he  could  snatch  from  his 
business  affairs.  Louvaulx  would  afford  him  an 
excellent  opportunity  of  getting  into  personal  touch 
with  the  man  on  whom  centered  the  ultimate  fate 
of  wireless  telephony  as  it  concerned  the  Empire. 

The  house-party,  about  twenty- four  in  number, 
included  a  rather  usual  mixture  of  the  sporting 
idler,  the  racing-shooting-auction-bridge  woman,  the 
season-wearied  debutante  of  the  year  before,  the 
match-maker,  the  match-spoiler — and  Beatrice. 

"Don't  be  afraid,"  said  the  outspoken  Beatrice  on 
her  first  introduction  to  Kerr-Dyce  in  the  hall  of 
Louvaulx  before  dinner.  "I'm  allowing  myself  a 
holiday.  I've  solemnly  promised  not  to  persecute 
you.  I  shan't  even  attempt  to  marry  you." 

Kerr-Dyce  was  the  youngest  member  of  the 
Cabinet  in  a  day  when  the  plums  of  political  life  fell 
to  comparative  youth.  In  Opposition,  he  had  given 
full  vent  to  a  mordant  tongue.  In  power,  he  had 
superimposed  a  certain  smiling  good  humor.  He 
defied  any  and  all  to  make  him  angry.  J'y  suis,  j'y 
reste,  was  his  attitude.  Admirers  praised  his  equa- 
nimity in  face  of  party  attacks.  Critics  said  that  he 
would  never  reach  to  the  Premiership  because  he 
lacked  the  fire  of  sincerity.  No  one  denied  that  he 
was  an  extremely  clever  man;  but  cleverness  is  a 
double-edged  quality  for  political  life,  liable  to  turn 
against  its  possessor.  Soundness  and  sincerity 
carry  a  man  further.  In  appearance,  he  had  a  curi- 
ously rounded  and  boyish  cast  of  feature,  which 
added  to  his  outward  good  humor  while  masking 
his  essentially  virile  stiength. 

"I've  made  no  such  promise,"  returned  Kerr- 


202  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Dyce  with  his  easy  smile.  "I  shall  try  to  convert 
you.  Failing  that,  I  shall  probably  propose." 

"Make  it  a  romantic  proposal.  That's  the  only 
way  to  capture  me.  I'm  all  for  romance.  That's 
why  I'm  a  crusader." 

"Then  I'm  evidently  cast  for  the  role  of  Saracen. 
Stun  you;  throw  you  across  my  saddle-bow;  and 
bear  you  off  to  my  desert  tent  in  Ebury  Square." 

"It  has  the  advantage  of  being  near  to  the  Cax- 
ton  Hall.  I  shall  be  able  to  slip  out  from  the 
harem,  make  a  speech,  and  return  before  my  lord 
and  master  has  awakened  from  his  after-lunch 
siesta." 

"Or  find  him  awaiting  you  with  the  bow-string." 

"He  would  have  to  reckon  with  the  whole  harem. 
They  would  be  solid  for  me." 

"I  must  proceed  to  the  East  and  study  the  ways 
of  dealing  with  refractory  wives." 

"It  has  been  studied  for  ten  thousand  years,  but 
men  don't  seem  to  have  progressed  beyond  the 
infant  class." 

"Tutor  me  in  the  secret." 

"Un  secret  de  Polichinelle.  Give  us  our  own 
way  in  everything,  and  we  shall  manage  to  put  up 
with  you." 

"To  have  one's  own  way  in  everything — how 
horribly  tame!  Like  playing  cricket  with  twenty- 
one  rabbits." 

"Quite  a  man's  point  of  view.  You  regard 
women  as  a  mere  variant  on  men.  Skirted — I  won't 
say  petticoated — man.  In  reality,  we're  a  different 
order  of  being — different  thoughts,  different  codes, 
different  mainspring  of  action.  We  know  you  in- 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  203 

side  out,  but  you  don't  know  us  and  probably  never 
will." 

"How  neatly  you  place  your  finger  on  the  danger 
of  the  situation." 

"And  the  reason  for  cowardice.  I  don't  blame 
you.  If  I  were  in  your  place,  I  should  be  equally 
afraid.  I  should  call  it  'regard  for  the  sanctity  of 
the  Constitution,'  if  I  couldn't  think  of  anything 
more  high-sounding." 

"If  you  were  a  man  in  Cabinet  shoes,  what  would 
be  your  attitude  toward  the  women's  movement. 
I  ask  in  the  spirit  of  the  learner." 

"I  should  stand  firm  as  a  rock — with  a  sand 
foundation.  Then,  when  I  was  rolled  over  by  the 
waves,  I  could  protest  it  was  not  my  fault,  but  the 
fault  of  the  underpinning." 

"It  would  be  enlightening  to  return  to  the  earth 
a  couple  of  hundred  years  hence  and  see  whether 
rock  or  wave  had  come  out  best.  Shall  we  make 
a  small  bet  on  it  ?" 

"There's  Vi  bearing  down  to  your  rescue.  The 
perfect  hostess.  I  must  talk  sport.  Mr.  Kerr- 
Dyce" — she  raised  her  voice  in  studied  satire — "I 
should  value  your  opinion  on  the  correct  length  for 
the  niblick.  Should  it  be,  for  a  girl  of  my  height, 
35  inches,  or  35^  inches?" 

"For  golf,  35.  For  purposes  of  assault,  36.  For 
mixed  use,  35/^." 

"Bee,  dear,"  said  Viola,  approaching,  "I  want  to 
introduce  you  to  Basil  Roydon." 

"The  youth  who's  always  dropping  his  monocle 
and  catching  it  at  the  very  last  moment?  I'll  ask 


204  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

him  how  many  years  it  took  him  to  perfect  that 
parlor  trick.    Well,  let's  get  it  over." 

"He's  to  take  you  in  to  dinner." 

"The  martyrdom  of  Saint  Beatrice!" 

Presently  Viola  returned  with  Eve.  "My  sister, 
Mrs.  Hilary  Warde.  Mr.  Kerr-Dyce,"  she  intro- 
duced. 

Eve  was  looking  particularly  charming  that  eve- 
ning. She  intended  to.  The  color-scheme  was  of 
periwinkle  blue  sheathed  in  a  delicate  film  of  soft 
green  tulle — "Love  in  a  Mist"  was  her  costumier's 
tag  to  the  gown — alluring,  discreet,  mysterious. 
Her  natural  color  was  slightly  heightened ;  her  eyes 
had  an  added  sparkle;  her  lips  were  piquant. 

Kerr-Dyce  allowed  himself  a  moment  of  frank 
admiration — a  moment  of  silence  which  was  in  it- 
self a  compliment. 

Then:    "It's  better  to  be  born  lucky  than  rich." 

"Am  I?  I  never  thought  of  myself  in  that 
light." 

"I  was  thinking  of  your  husband." 

Eve  laughed  away  the  subtle  compliment.  "Hil- 
ary takes  infinite  pains  to  be  lucky.  He  makes  a 
science  of  it." 

"That  suggests  a  new  definition  of  success:  an 
infinite  capacity  for  being  lucky." 

"Someone  ought  to  make  an  anthology  of  your 
sayings." 

"Two  to  a  page;  decorative  margins;  vellum 
cover;  edition  de  luxe  strictly  confined  to  fifty 
copies.  With  a  splurge  of  advertising,  no  doubt 
a  publisher  would  be  able  to  dispose  of  fifty  copies. 
Suggest  me  a  title." 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  205 

"Seed  Pearls?" 

"I  foresee  the  publisher's  commercial  veto.  'Cast- 
ing pearls  before  the  public.  Tut-tut !' ' 

Eve  laughed  gayly.  "Are  you  going  out  with  the 
guns  to-morrow?" 

"Yes — I  lay  my  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  conven- 
tion. Every  politician  is  expected  to  bag  his  August 
brace  or  two.  It's  a  stone  in  his  fabric  of  reputa- 
tion. We  shall  be  photographed  in  a  group  with 
the  trophies  laid  in  front  of  us;  it  will  appear  in 
the  'Tatler'  or  'Bystander' — the  names  read  from 
left  to  right.  Seeing  it,  the  public  will  say :  'Kerr- 
Dyce  is  a  sportsman;  he  must  be  a  sound  man.' 
Thus  we  build  up  reputation." 

"Doesn't  golf  answer  that  purpose?" 

"No,  not  south  of  the  Tweed.  To  be  a  sports- 
man one  must  hit  something  on  the  wing  or  on  the 
hoof.  Golf  is  too  scientific.  The  public  look 
askance  at  any  science.  Permit  me  a  suggestion. 
If  I  were  running  your  husband,  I  should  pack  him 
off  to  Central  Africa  for  six  months  to  shoot  big 
game.  I  should  have  him  photographed  seated  on 
a  mound  of  lions,  tigers,  elephants  and  hippopotami. 
Or  bioscoped  ambushing  a  crocodile.  Does  one 
ambush  crocodiles,  or  does  one  fish  for  them  ?  Any- 
how, the  principle  is  the  same.  Get  the  public  on 
their  prejudiced  side.  Personally,  I  was  never 
recognized  as  a  statesman  until  I  went  to  Spitz- 
bergen  on  an  expedition  to  shoot  the  harmless  wal- 
rus." 

"Dinner  is  served,"  announced  the  butler. 

The  house-party  went  in  without  formality  of 
precedence.  Eve  and  Kerr-Dyce  were  partnered. 


206  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

To  Hilary  was  assigned  a  lady  who  had  achieved 
fame  by  Eastern  dances  on  the  music-halls  for  a 
brief  period.  She  marked  herself  out  from  the 
other  women  by  wearing  a  turban  with  a  sweeping 
aigrette  at  the  side,  and  a  costume  which  had  the 
clinging  definition  of  a  bathing  suit.  Beatrice  had 
already  battered  young  Roy  don  of  the  monocle  into 
a  suitable  sense  of  his  own  insignificance.  She  was 
a  merciless  young  woman. 

To  the  other  side  of  Eve  at  table  was  a  Spanish 
attache — coal-dark,  flashing,  handsome,  ordinarily 
irresistible  where  women  were  concerned.  But  in 
the  case  of  Eve  he  found  himself  practically  ig- 
nored. She  would  answer  him  with  a  smiling 
absentmindedness,  and  then  turn  away  at  the  earliest 
opportunity  to  talk  with  Kerr-Dyce. 

"Eprise,"  he  whispered  to  his  neighbor,  a  hard- 
mouthed  woman  who  was  known  for  recklessness  to 
hounds  and  a  deadly  shooting  eye.  With  the  very 
slightest  movement  of  the  farther  shoulder,  he  in- 
dicated Eve  and  the  Cabinet  Minister. 

"Politics,"  was  the  snap  answer. 

"You  mean ?" 

"Her  husband  is  Hilary  Warde,  the  financier. 
They  want  to  get  something  out  of  the  Govern- 
ment." 

The  Spaniard  studied  Eve  with  a  new  intent,  as 
an  interesting  specimen  of  a  genus  on  which  he  was 
an  authority. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  dinner  he  whispered  again 
to  his  neighbor:  "I  think  not  altogether." 

"Not  altogether  what?"  asked  the  shooting 
woman,  missing  the  allusion. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  307 

Again  the  slight  lifting  of  the  farther  shoulder. 
"Not  altogether  politics." 

After  dinner  came  chemin  de  fer.  The  play  was 
not  heavy  in  comparison  with  West  End  houses  or 
Continental  casinos,  because  there  was  no  one  to 
start  an  epidemic  of  plunging. 

"This  must  be  somewhat  tame  to  you,"  smiled 
Kerr-Dyce  to  Warde  on  seeing  him  punt  a  single 
sovereign  against  the  bank. 

Warde,  thinking  of  the  day  when  he  had  punted 
£470,000  on  the  Stock  Exchange,  smiled  back  as  he 
answered :  "Taking  a  holiday." 

"So  am  I,"  said  Kerr-Dyce,  and  in  his  tone  was  a: 
nuance  which  meant :  "Don't  approach  me  on  busi- 
ness matters  while  we're  here." 

Warde  caught  the  warning,  but  decided  to  dis- 
regard it.  He  was  at  Louvaulx  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  advancing  the  interests  of  wireless  telephony. 
The  Cabinet  Minister  was  to  be  used  as  yet  another 
instrument  of  the  Driver. 


CHAPTER  VII 
A  POLITICIAN'S  VIEWPOINT 

A  week  had  passed.  For  Warde  it  had  been  a 
week  of  futility.  Apparently  his  goal,  like  a  dis- 
tant mountain-range  across  a  desert  plain,  was  as 
far  off  as  ever.  Kerr-Dyce,  meeting  him  in  the 
score  of  companionable  amusements  of  a  house- 
party  always  pleasant,  always  smiling,  had  never- 
theless shown  an  unmistakable  desire  to  keep  away 
from  matters  of  business.  With  a  deft  twist  of 
words  he  would  fend  off  the  most  delicate  and 
indirect  line  of  approach. 

"A  sheer  wasted  week,"  said  Hilary  to  Eve. 
"It's  damnable!" 

"Can't  you  look  on  this  as  a  holiday  from  work, 
dear?"  suggested  Eve,  surveying  herself  critically 
in  a  full-length  mirror. 

"I  can't  afford  myself  a  holiday." 

"Is  there  anything  more  I  could  do  ?" 

"You've  helped  me  all  that's  possible." 

"Perhaps  Geoffrey ?"- 

"I  might  try." 

Armadale,  approached  in  the  course  of  a  private 
chat,  put  the  situation  into  plain  words. 

"My  dear  fellow,"  he  said  snapping  and  un- 
snapping  a  cigar-lighter  constrainedly,  "I'm  the  very 

208 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  209 

last  person  to  be  able  to  help  you.  The  fact  that 
you're  my  brother-in-law  ties  me  up  completely. 
Remember  the  telegraph  contract  and  the  devil  of. 
a  scandal  it  made?  If  I  were  even  to  whisper  a 
word  in  your  favor,  it  would  get  round  to  the  yel- 
low press — I  suspect  Jeans"  (the  butler)  "of  mak- 
ing an  income  on  the  side  out  of  society  items.  The 
journalists  would  scream  that  I  had  a  share  interest 
in  W.  Tels.  No — I  wish  you  luck,  but  I  can't 
possibly  help  you." 

A  shift  of  chance,  however,  brought  Warde  his 
opportunity.  He  was  playing  in  a  men's  foursome 
on  the  Louvaulx  course  one  morning,  partnering 
Kerr-Dyce.  They  were  on  the  sixteenth  green — 
the  hole  on  the  plateau  which  makes  one  of  the 
sporting  difficulties  of  the  links — when  a  telegraph 
messenger  was  seen  approaching  across  the  valley. 
The  boy  met  them  on  their  way  to  the  seventeenth, 
and  handed  his  buff  envelope  to  the  politician. 

"Excuse  me,"  said  Kerr-Dyce,  ripping  open  the 
envelope.  A  tinge  of  annoyance  showed  on  his 
curiously  boyish  features  as  he  de-coded  the  cipher 
enclosure — unusual  with  him,  as  he  rarely  allowed 
anything  but  smiling  good-humor  to  come  upper- 
most. The  message  was  from  the  Premier,  who 
with  the  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty  was  yacht- 
ing in  the  Mediterranean;  it  had  beeen  handed  in 
at  Marseilles ;  it  requested  Kerr-Dyce  to  travel  over 
at  once  to  discuss  an  urgent  matter  of  Cabinet  pol- 
icy which  had  suddenly  arisen.  Impossible  to  set- 
tle by  wire,  ended  the  message. 

"This  will  be  our  last  game"  mentioned  Kerr- 


210  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Dyce  as  he  folded  away  the  telegram.  "I'm  called 
away  to  the  Continent." 

"I'm  sorry — I  had  hoped  to  beat  you  in  singles 
some  time." 

"Duty,"  half-sighed  the  politician  annoyed  at  the 
prospect  of  the  forty-eight-hour  journey  to  Mar- 
seilles and  back. 

Warde's  quick  imagination  jumped  at  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  telegram.  "If  you  want  to  con- 
verse with  some  one  abroad  why  not  use  our  wire- 
less?" he  suggested. 

Kerr-Dyce,  not  to  delay  the  game,  made  his 
stroke,  and  then  resumed  as  they  walked  on:  "In 
the  first  place,  it  would  mean  traveling  to  London 
to  your  head  office " 

"No — we  could  get  you  through  from  Sheffield, 
relaying  from  the  London  high-power  station. 
Sheffield  is  less  than  a  two-hour  journey  from 
here." 

"Relaying?  You  mean  that  my  words  would  be 
received  in  London  and  then  passed  on?" 

"No — that's  what's  done  in  the  case  of  cable 
messages.  They  receive  and  re-transmit.  But  with 
our  system,  there's  a  purely  automatic  device  of 
my  own  which  would  reinforce  your  words  at  Lon- 
don— make  them  louder — and  flash  them  on  to  the 
Continent.  You  could  speak  direct  from  Sheffield 
to  your  friend." 

"As  far  as  Marseilles?" 

"Easily.     We  have  a  station  at  Marseilles." 

"But  there's  an  important  objection — the  con- 
versation would  be  a  very  private  one." 

"You  fear  that  some  one  would  listen  in  ?" 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 


"Exactly." 

"I  could  guarantee  you  absolute  secrecy." 

"How?" 

"Tune  the  wave-length  yourself  to  any  number 
you  please.  You  could  choose  any  one  of  ten  thou- 
sand wave-lengths.  Telegraph  that  number  in  ci- 
pher to  your  friend  abroad  ;  let  him  make  a  similar 
adjustment;  and  the  conversation  must  necessarily 
be  secret." 

During  the  finish  of  the  game,  the  politician 
thought  over  this  proposal.  "Drive  with  me  to 
Sheffield,"  he  decided,  "and  I'll  make  a  trial  con- 
versation." 

They  took  one  of  Armadale's  cars,  and  from  the 
local  post  office  Kerr-Dyce  sent  a  cipher  cable  to 
the  Premier  explaining  that  he  would  speak  by 
wireless  in  two  hours'  time,  and  giving  the  wave- 
length number  he  chose  without  Warde's  knowl- 
edge. At  the  same  time,  Warde  dispatched  a  mes- 
sage of  his  own  to  Sheffield,  ordering  them  to  open 
up  communication  with  Marseilles  for  the  appointed 
hour. 

During  the  motor-car  drive  they  talked  only  on 
neutral  topics.  Warde  was  too  diplomatic  to  press 
any  point  of  his  own  until  the  politician  was  satis- 
fied that  wireless  telephony  had  saved  him  the 
forty-eight-hour  journey  to  the  Mediterranean  and 
back. 

There  was  a  curious  echo  of  Warde's  Berlin  ex- 
perience in  this  coming  test.  Six  years  ago  —  what 
strides  had  been  made  since  then!  In  those  days 
his  limit  of  distance  was  a  hundred  miles;  now, 
one  could  converse  over  thousands.  But  they  were 


212  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

still  far  from  "blanketing  the  earth,"  and  only  the 
resources  of  a  Government  could  cope  with  the  huge 
expenditure  involved.  As  Paradine  had  said  on  his 
death-bed,  the  financing  would  have  to  be  on  the 
scale  of  millions. 

At  the  Sheffield  works,  Warde  learned  from  the 
operator  that  they  were  in  touch  with  Marseilles, 
and  the  two  gentlemen  were  awaiting  Mr.  Kerr- 
Dyce  on  the  'phone.  Warde  told  the  operator  to 
withdraw;  he  showed  the  politician  how  to  adjust 
the  automatic  wave-length  indicator,  and  himself 
left  the  room. 

An  hour  or  so  later,  Kerr-Dyce  appeared  in  his 
normal  good  humor.  "All  settled,"  said  he,  tak- 
ing Warde's  arm.  "Back  to  Louvaulx,  and  we'll 
get  in  a  round  before  dinner!" 

"Clear  speaking?" 

"Quite." 

"And  clear  vision?" 

"Rather  fuzzy  and  flickery — like  a  badly-lighted 
cinema  film  in  the  very  early  days." 

"Yes — we've  not  yet  perfected  television.  I  have 
a  whole  corps  of  your  scientists  working  on  the 
problem.  The  principle's  right,  but  there  are  many 
practical  difficulties  to  be  smoothed  over." 

"So  I  should  imagine." 

They  stepped  into  the  waiting  car. 

"And  big  expense,"  resumed  Warde. 

"No  doubt." 

"Too  big  for  us." 

"You  ought  to  be  able  to  raise  any  capital  you 
need,"  answered  the  politician  noncommittally. 

"There  comes  a  limit.     For  four  years  we — or 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  213 

rather  Sir  Wilmer — created  money  out  of  air.  We 
never  made  a  penny  of  actual  revenue  during  those 
four  years,  and  the  expenditure  was  very  heavy. 
A  legal  fight  with  the  Rademeyer  company  alone 
cost  us  £50,000.  Then  we  floated  the  Sheffield 
subsidiary  and  began  to  manufacture  apparatus. 
That,  of  course,  makes  revenue  for  us  now,  and  we 
get  a  certain  amount  from  the  transmission  of  mes- 
sages. But,  frankly,  in  essence  we  exist  on  expec- 
tations. The  high  price  of  our  shares  is  a  heavy 
discount  on  the  future.  Shareholders  are  beginning 
to  clamor  for  the  dividends  they  expect.  We  can't 
manipulate  the  market  eternally.  We  need  a  new 
cash  capital — a  very  large  cash  capital.  As  I  said, 
there  are  natural  limits  to  the  financing  of  an  in- 
dustrial company  unless "  He  made  a  signifi- 
cant pause. 

"You  mean,  unless  you  have  a  Government  back- 
ing?" 

"I  was  thinking  of  another  alternative." 

"What's  that?" 

"One  phase  of  it  arose  six  months  ago.  We  were 
asked  to  form  a  German  subsidiary — half-and-half 
capital,  but  German  controlled.  I  turned  it  down." 

"Why?" 

"German  controlled.  I  want  to  keep  wireless 
telephony  all-red." 

Kerr-Dyce  allowed  a  tinge  of  skepticism  to  color 
his  habitual  smile. 

"At  the  present  moment,"  pursued  Wrarde,  "the 
offer  is  being  repeated  from  another  direction.  An 
American  syndicate  wants  to  manufacture  appara- 


214  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

tus,  set  up  stations,  and  work  all  rights  in  the  west- 
ern hemisphere." 

"Isn't  that  usually  the  procedure  with  patented 
inventions  ?" 

"Yes.  If  I  were  running,  say,  a  harvesting  ma- 
chine or  a  new  chemical  product,  I  should  at  once 
accept  such  an  offer.  I  should  dispose  of  patent 
rights  on  royalty  all  over  the  world.  It  would  be 
a  matter  of  no  national  concern — merely  a  commer- 
cial question.  But  wireless  telephony  is  on  an  al- 
together different  plane." 

"I  think  you  exaggerate  its  importance.  I  don't 
mean  as  an  invention — wonderful,  highly  useful,  a 
great  time-saver,  I  grant  you — but  in  its  national 
aspect" 

"Let  me  have  your  views." 

Kerr-Dyce  gathered  himself  together  preceptibly, 
in  his  well-known  House  of  Commons  manner. 
Usually  he  leaned  back  on  the  Front  Bench  very 
much  as  he  now  reclined  in  the  well-cushioned  car 
smilingly  at  ease.  An  attack  might  come  from 
the  Opposition;  he  would  then  coil  up  his  springs, 
get  to  his  feet,  and  pour  out  his  energies  in  a  stream 
of  high-power  words  as  outwardly  smooth  as  the 
water-surface  of  a  mill-flume,  and  as  inwardly 
forceful. 

"I  don't  want  you  to  attribute  a  Cabinet  sig- 
nificance to  my  views,"  he  began.  "Nor  are  they 
necessarily  the  views  of  the  Postmaster-General.  I 
am  speaking  quite  unofficially  and,  of  course,  in 
confidence." 

The  deadly  cautiousness  of  it  reminded  Warde 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  215 

of  his  interview  with  the  banker  when  he  had  asked 
for  the  £70,000  loan. 

"You  have  been  occupied  with  your  inventions 
for — how  long  would  it  be,  six  years?"  pursued 
Kerr-Dyce. 

"Over  eight  years." 

"Therefore  you  must  necessarily  be  imbued  with 
the  inventor  outlook.  You  view  your  wireless  sys- 
tem with  the  natural  fondness — partiality — of  a 
father.  The  outsider  may  not  see  more  of  the 
game,  but  he  certainly  sees  it  in  better  perspective. 
Regard  me  for  the  moment  as  one  of  the  public — 
the  average  voter." 

"You're  looking  at  this  as  a  voter's  question?" 

"For  the  moment.' 

"But  essentially?" 

"In  the  ultimate,  public  sentiment  is  the  govern- 
ing power  of  a  nation." 

It  was  on  Warde's  lips  to  retort  that  this 
aphorism  of  the  election  platform  was  scarcely  a 
motto  of  leadership,  but  he  refrained  and  kept  si- 
lent. 

"As  the  average  voter,"  continued  Kerr-Dyce, 
"I  should  ask  myself  what  need  is  there  for  the 
Government  to  spend  millions  of  the  public  money 
in  buying  or  backing  a  commercial  enterprise  which 
can  be  either  carried  on  by  its  originators  or  by 
their  natural  rivals.  Taxation  is  already  on  a  war 
footing;  the  nation's  Budget  grows  annually  heav- 
ier and  heavier;  the  burden  of  armaments  is  be- 
coming insupportable." 

"If  this  were  a  new  gun  or  a  new  aeroplane  I  had 


216  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

invented — something  far  superior  to  existing  mod- 
els— would  the  Government  buy  it?" 

"Possibly.     But   I  cannot  admit  the  analogy." 

"Then  we're  at  the  crux  of  the  matter.  I  claim 
that  wireless  telephony  is  as  much  a  necessity  of 
national  defense  as  any  new  gun,  aeroplane,  sub- 
marine or  battleship.  As  I  see  the  development — a 
network  of  wireless  stations  on  every  British  posses- 
sion throughout  the  globe,  and  a  moving  criss- 
cross of  installations  on  every  British  merchantman, 
warship  or  aircraft — it  would  act  as  a  scouting- 
line  of  priceless  value.  On  a  rumor  of  war,  White- 
hall could  talk  with  a  thousand  scouts — give  orders 
to  ten  thousand  merchantmen.  It  could  cut  off 
communication  with  all  foreign  vessels.  You've 
seen  already  what  tuning  means.  .  .  .  On  the  other 
hand,  if  you  won't  finance  us,  if  you  allow  a  rival 
system  such  as  Rademeyer's  to  catch  up  with  us 
and  divide  a  world  monopoly,  then  there's  no  such 
security." 

"We  have  wireless  telegraphy  already  in  the 
Navy  and  on  merchant  vessels." 

"To-day,  when  you  had  to  discuss  what  I  guess 
to  be  state  policy  with  some  one  abroad,  would 
wireless  telegraphy  serve  you?  No — you  had  to 
use  our  telephone  system,  you  had  to  speak  face 
to  face  with  your  man.  There's  a  striking  practical 
instance." 

"I'm  not  questioning  the  usefulness  of  your  in- 
ventions— I  am  giving  you  the  view  of  the  average 
voter.  Allow  me  to  develop  it.  The  Government 
is  asked  to  provide  an  additional  couple  of  mil- 
lions  " 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  217 

"Five  millions,"  interrupted  Warde. 

"That  strengthens  the  case  I  am  putting  up.  An 
additional  five  millions  to  the  Post  Office  and  Navy 
estimates." 

"Spread  over  several  years." 

"Granted.  But  it  is  the  total  sum  which  counts 
with  the  voter.  He  asks  why  we  should  buy  what 
there  is  no  need  for  us  to  buy.  Private  enterprise 
will  eventually  provide  all  the  stations  and  world- 
wide installations  you  speak  of." 

"It's  a  time-question.  For  national  security,  I 
claim  that  the  expenditure  is  immediate  and  urgent. 
We  can't  finance  wireless  on  the  scale  of  five  mil- 
lions unless  we  part  with  control  to  German,  Ameri- 
can or  other  foreign  syndicates." 

"And  further,"  pursued  Kerr-Dyce,  still  smooth 
while  still  intent  on  forcing  home  his  point,  "the 
average  voter  asks  himself  what  is  the  record  of 
this  wireless  company.  Frankly,  it  is  not  savory. 
There  have  been  rigs  and  share  manipulations  again 
and  again." 

"That's  quite  apart  from  the  scientific  end. 
We  had  to  get  money  somehow  while  the  system 
was  in  the  non-productive  stage." 

"With  the  public,  the  two  go  together.  As  I 
say,  the  record  is  not  a  savory  one.  You  yourself 
— I  must  put  the  matter  in  plain  words — are  not 
persona  grata  with  the  public.  There  have  been 
newspaper  attacks — libelous  perhaps,  but  still  not 
refuted." 

"Attacks  directed  by  rival  interests." 

"Possibly.  But  the  point  is,  not  refuted.  Last 
week,  I  happened  to  remark  jestingly  that  every 


218  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

public  man  has  to  be  labeled  in  the  mind  of  the 
public  as  a  'sportsman.'  There's  sober  truth  in 
that." 

Warde  realized  at  last  that  he  was  dealing  with  a 
politician  and  not  a  statesman.  To  hold  the  sym- 
pathies of  the  sheep-like  public,  to  keep  in  office  by 
swaying  to  their  prejudices,  that  was  the  first  aim 
of  the  man  who  sat  beside  him  in  the  car.  Unless 
one  could  appeal  to  him  on  the  ground  of  self-in- 
terest, argument  was  hopeless.  Kerr-Dyce  would 
have  to  be  bought  Not,  of  course,  with  crude 
money.  Bribery  was  out  of  the  question.  But  to 
appeal  to  him  through  his  political  ambitions — that 
was  a  very  different  matter.  There  would  be  his 
accessible  side.  Was  it  possible  to  present  wireless 
telephony  as  essential  to  party  stability? 

After  some  moments  of  deep  thought,  Warde  re- 
plied: "I  recognize  the  force  of  your  objections." 

"Ah— I'm  glad." 

"I  shall  have  to  reconsider  the  whole  position." 

"Good.  If  I've  spoken  out  rather  frankly,  I'm 
sure  you  recognize  that  it  was  entirely  in  a  friendly 
spirit.  May  I  count  on  your  discretion  in  regard 
to  what  I've  said?" 

"Certainly." 

"Then  shall  we  leave  the  subject  and  turn  to 
golf?"  smiled  Kerr-Dyce. 

They  managed  to  get  in  their  round  before  din- 
ner. Warde,  with  a  subconscious  feeling  that  it 
was  due  to  him  to  put  out  his  utmost  efforts,  thrust 
away  the  thoughts  of  the  day  and  concentrated  in- 
tently on  his  game.  Playing  a  round  of  perfect 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  219 

golf,  he  managed  to  beat  Kerr-Dyce  by  "four  up 
and  three  to  play." 

The  latter,  in  handing  over  the  customary  ball 
to  the  winner,  remarked :  "I  seem  to  have  put  you 
on  your  mettle." 

"You  have,"  said  Warde. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

A  BUBBLE  OF  ROMANCE 

Three  times  in  Warde's  career  had  the  money 
obstacle  blocked  his  path. 

On  the  first  occasion  he  had  needed  £8,000  in 
order  to  secure  a  partnership  with  Burgrave.  From 
his  present-day  standpoint  the  sum  was  pocket- 
money;  but  six  years  ago  it  would  have  proved  an 
insuperable  obstacle,  had  he  not  transferred  his 
services  and  linked  up  with  Paradine.  On  the 
second  occasion  he  had  needed  £70,000  to  secure 
control  of  W.  Tels.  It  was  impossible  to  raise 
that  sum  from  his  friends  or  his  banker.  He  had 
had  to  make  a  second  plunge  and  secure  half  a  mil- 
lion from  outsiders.  Now  it  was  a  case  of  finding 
some  £5,000,000.  With  that  money  in  hand,  they 
could  establish  stations  all  over  the  world  and  form 
a  complete  network,  making  wireless  telephony  the 
staple  method  of  commercial,  social  and  govern- 
mental communication. 

Those  who  knew  Warde  best — his  own  country- 
men— would  not  supply  the  capital.  Kerr-Dyce's 
attitude  was  probably  typical  of  the  general  Cabinet 
viewpoint.  Tentative  efforts  to  interest  the  big 
finance  houses  of  London  were  also  coldly  received. 
Lombard  Street,  where  not  actively  hostile,  pre- 
220 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  221 

f  erred  to  see  an  industrial  company  build  up  by  slow 
stages,  making  sure  of  its  ground  step  by  step, 
rather  than  plunge  on  the  scale  Warde  contem- 
plated. "Frenzied  finance"  was  the  phrase  borrowed 
by  the  great  house  of  Salomons — European  money- 
kings — to  describe  the  proposal.  "Come  to  us  in 
three  or  four  years'  time,"  was  their  final  word. 

An  appeal  to  the  public  for  five  millions  was  dis- 
cussed at  great  length  by  the  Board  of  W.  Tels, 
and  reluctantly  put  aside.  In  view  of  the  public 
hostility  fomented  by  rival  interests,  such  a  flota- 
tion would  probably  prove  a  fiasco,  and  deal  a 
smashing  blow  at  their  credit. 

It  was  then  that  Warde  laid  an  altogether  new 
plan  before  his  co-directors.  It  was  based  on  his 
two  previous  experiences.  Having  failed  to  secure 
five  millions  at  home,  let  them  ask  for  ten  millions 
abroad.  He  had  not  definitely  turned  down  the 
preliminary  negotiation  of  the  New  York  syndi- 
cate— it  had  been  kept  in  abeyance — and  he  now 
proposed  to  proceed  with  it.  The  Board  approved 
warmly.  They  opened  up  wireless  communication 
with  the  American  syndicate,  and  it  was  arranged 
in  October  that  Warde  and  Cosway  should  travel 
over  to  New  York. 

Hilary  asked  Eve  if  she  would  care  to  accompany 
him.  She  demurred. 

"It  seems  hardly  worth  while  for  me  to  rush 
over  and  back.  I  suppose  the  business  will  be  fin- 
ished in  a  week  or  two?" 

"It's  impossible  to  say.  Negotiations  for  such  a 
heavy  amount  might  drag  on  for  a  long  time.  I 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 


thought  you  might  like,  dear,  to  see  something  of 
New  York  and  American  society." 

"It  doesn't  appeal  to  me.  I  have  crowds  of  en- 
gagements in  London.  I  scarcely  know  anyone  in 
New  York,  and  American  society  doesn't  interest 
me." 

"I  should  very  much  like  to  have  you  with  me. 
We  seem  to  see  so  little  of  one  another  nowadays." 

"That's  because  you  are  so  immersed  in  business 
matters." 

"I  realize  it.  But  I  can't  free  myself  until  wire- 
less is  placed  on  a  world  monopoly  basis.  I'm  just 
an  instrument  of  the  Driver." 

"It  seems  as  though  I  were  too,"  protested  Eve. 
"I'm  married  to  a  business." 

He  took  her  in  his  arms  and  kissed  her.  She 
submitted  passively.  II  y  a  toujours  I'un  qui  baise, 
and  I'autre  qui  tend  la  joue. 

"We're  still  lovers,"  he  answered  tenderly.  "Six 
years,  and  still  lovers.  Never  once  has  any  other 
woman  held  my  thoughts.  You  have  had  no  rival, 
dearest." 

"Except  wireless." 

"No  human  rival.  We  did  right  to  marry — I  was 
sure  of  myself  then,  and  I  am  sure  of  myself  still. 
You  remember  that  October  afternoon  in  Rich- 
mond Park?  It  thrills  me  even  now.  And  those 
glorious  days  in  Granada,  Seville,  Ronda,  the  desert 
— little  babe  in  the  wood  ?  I  remember  every  kiss, 
every  caress.  You  were  the  eighth  wonder  of  the 
world  to  me.  It  was  Sir  Wilmer  who  brought  us 
together,  and  it  is  Sir  Wilmer' s  trust  I  am  now 
carrying  out.  We  owe  something  to  him,  don't 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 


we,  dearest?  Give  me  time  to  carry  out  this  last 
deal,  and  then  I  can  turn  over  the  work  to  other 
hands.  We'll  make  a  second  honeymoon.  We'll 
elope  once  again.  Plan  it  out  while  I'm  away  in 
America  —  a  second  honeymoon,  and  a  sweeter!" 

Eve  was  trembling  under  his  words.  "Don't  go 
to  America!"  she  begged  with  sudden  intensity. 

"It  may  only  be  for  a  month  or  so,"  he  replied 
with  tenderness.  "I'll  be  back  as  soon  as  ever  I 
can." 

"I  don't  want  you  to  go." 

"I  must  go.     Come  with  me!" 

"I  can't  come,"  she  replied  unsteadily. 

"Then  we'll  chat  every  day  by  wireless.  Use 
the  house  installation,  and  relay  through  the  high- 
power  station.  Every  evening  I'll  say  good-night 
to  you." 

Eve's  mood  changed  swiftly.  "When  it's  even- 
ing here,  it  would  be  afternoon  in  New  York,"  she 
laughed.  "In  the  middle  of  talking  business  you 
would  have  to  break  off  to  send  a  kiss  by  tele- 
phone." 

The  bubble  of  romance  shattered  into  fragments. 


CHAPTER   IX 

THE   MODERN   BAGDAD 

A  traverse  of  the  Atlantic  on  a  5O,ooo-ton  liner 
is  as  swift,  as  uneventful,  as  much  a  matter  of  or- 
ganized routine  as  a  railway  journey  from  London 
to  Liverpool.  It  has  not  the  innate  dignity  of  a 
voyage  to  the  southern  hemisphere — it  is  merely 
a  glorified  ferrying,  the  taking  up  of  a  human  cargo 
on  the  one  bank  and  the  discharging  of  it  to  schedule 
time  on  the  other  bank,  speeding  across  on  a  lane 
of  water  as  closely  defined  as  the  path  of  a  ferry. 

"A  liner  she's  a  lady,"  wrote  Kipling;  but  his 
song  was  not  of  the  steel-sinewed,  ice-blooded  ves- 
sel that  reels  up  its  three  thousand  miles  in  a  clip  of 
four  days,  soullessly  impervious  to  gale  or  calm, 
sunshine  or  fog.  The  5O,ooo-ton  Atlantic  ferrier 
is  not  a  lady,  not  even  a  female — it  is  a  mathemati- 
cal formula. 

When  Warde  and  Cosway  crossed,  for  four  days 
wolf-packs  of  gray  combers  had  hurled  themselves 
against  the  bows  of  the  vessel,  ravenous  for  their 
meat;  been  thrust  aside  by  steel  shoulders;  and 
reforming  pack,  had  rolled  on  to  seek  easier  prey. 
The  air  of  the  hurricane  deck  was  stinging  with  the 
spray  of  the  broken  legions  hissing  out  their  im- 
potent rage.  South  of  the  Newfoundland  Banks, 

224 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  225 

swaths  of  white  fog  had  hurried  across  the  slag- 
colored  waters  to  blind  the  eyes  of  the  ferrier.  It 
had  pounded  on  with  undiminished  speed,  booming 
at  minute-intervals  a  siren  that  quivered  through 
every  muscle  and  sinew  of  its  framework,  regard- 
less of  danger  in  its.  pride  of  bulk  and  merciless  mo- 
mentum. Lesser  vessels  must  listen  for  the  warn- 
ing and  scurry  out  9f  its  path.  Once  a  tossing 
trawler,  puny  against  its  gigantic  hull,  sails  flap- 
ping pantingly  in  the  sudden  effort  to  tack,  had 
escaped  by  only  a  few  feet  of  clearance.  The 
curses  of  the  fisherman  were  as  impotent  as  the 
hiss  of  the  broken  waves. 

Inside  the  decks,  the  life  was  similar  to  that  of 
any  metropolitan  hotel.  One  dined  according  to 
one's  fancy  on  dishes  in  season  or  out ;  was  barbered, 
manicured  or  massaged  with  the  routine  of  a  hotel 
service ;  read  a  daily  paper  giving  the  world's  news 
hot  upon  its  happening;  took  seats  for  a  concert 
of  professional  musicians  or  a  play  staged  by  pro- 
fessional actors;  conversed — thanks  to  Warde's  in- 
ventions— with  friends  or  business  connections  in 
Europe  or  America.  Until  an  aero-service  over  the 
Atlantic  should  sweep  across  the  three  thousand 
miles  inside  the  span  of  a  day  and  a  night,  this 
was  the  high  peak  of  convenience  and  smoothly 
ordered  comfort. 

Warde  and  Cos  way  made  a  very  careful  plan- 
ning-out  of  the  line  they  should  take  up  with  Mr. 
Michael  Riordan,  the  active  negotiator  of  the 
American  syndicate.  From  a  smoking-room  ac- 
quaintance— an  American — they  learned  something 
of  the  man  they  were  to  meet. 


226  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"Michael  Riordan?"  said  he.  "You  mean  Red 
Mike,  don't  you?" 

Warde  had  not  heard  of  this  designation.  "Of 
Wall  Street,"  he  mentioned,  to  identify  more 
closely. 

"The  same.  He  began  life  in  the  Fenian  busi- 
ness, at  the  time  when  Lord  Frederick  Cavendish 
was  mussed  up  in  Phoenix  Park.  I  guess  Mike  was 
somewhere  on  the  outskirts.  Anyhow,  he  kissed 
good-by  to  your  police  and  made  out  by  a  back- 
door for  the  States.  He  found  standing-room  in 
the  Middle  West,  and  put  his  brains  and  fists  into 
the  political  wholesale  trade.  Ward  heeler,  ward 
leader,  city  boss — that's  the  line  of  his  trail.  You 
might  say  that  he  owned  his  city  in  the  early  part 
of  this  century.  The  chosen  representatives  of  the 
people  went  to  ask  him  for  the  morning's  orders. 
He  took  his  split  from  every  municipal  steal.  He 
gathered  in  a  fortune — not  a  multimillionaire  heap, 
but  anyhow  a  man's-size  fortune — and  salted  it 
away  in  government  bonds. 

"Mike  was  always  a  few  yards  ahead  of  his 
time.  He  foresaw  the  wave  of  reform  which  swept 
over  our  country  and  retired  the  political  bosses 
to  the  middle  distance.  He  withdrew  from  politics 
and  turned  to  Wall  Street.  Not  as  a  speculator  or 
a  stock  manipulator,  but  as  an  organizer  of  indus- 
trial concerns.  The  capacity  for  driving  men  in 
harness  which  made  him  a  great  political  boss  was 
equally  handy  in  his  reform  career — just  as  a  ban- 
dit chief  might  turn  into  a  highly  useful  military 
officer." 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  227 

"One  would  imagine  that  his  record  counted 
against  him,"  ventured  Cosway. 

"No,  sir!  He  was  successful,  and  we  idolize  suc- 
cess. He  was  also  square.  No  one  ever  accused 
Mike  of  double-crossing  or  of  playing  dirt  on  his 
partners.  He  was  out  for  plunder,  but  he  made  a 
fair  and  square  divide  of  the  swag.  Mike's  prom- 
ise was  gold-backed." 

"You  mentioned  that  he  finances  industrial  en- 
terprises," prompted  Warde. 

"He  negotiates  rather  than  finances.  There's  a 
banking  crowd  behind  him  who  lend  their  names  to 
the  public  flotations  he  engineers.  He's  next  door 
to  the  inner  circle  of  the  System.  They  know  he's 
to  be  trusted.  Which  goes  to  prove  that  honesty 
is  a  mighty  good  policy  for  a  political  crook.  .  .  . 
Excuse  me,  there's  the  auction  pool  starting.  I'm 
going  to  bid  for  the  high  field." 

The  Englishmen   were  left  to  disentangle  this 

strange  mixture  of  a  reputation. 

***** 

Wherein  lies  romance? 

Venice  is  essence  of  romance,  and  Granada,  and 
Aries,  and  a  score  of  other  dead  cities  where  the 
present  inhabitants  are  mere  transients  and  the 
ghosts  of  the  past  make  the  living  population. 
Linking  these  landmarks  of  bygone  centuries,  one 
might  form  the  hasty  generalization  that  romance 
is  the  mistress  of  history. 

New  York  stamps  a  heel  into  that  facile  thought. 
New  York  is  attar  of  romance,  and  yet  its  record 
is  scarcely  older  than  a  mid-Victorian  sampler;  its 
monuments  are  negligible ;  and  no  ghosts  live.  One 


228  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

can  label  New  York  beautiful  or  hideous,  majestic 
or  nightmarish,  alluring  or  repellent,  according  to 
one's  individual  outlook;  but  the  feeling  of  its  ro- 
mance penetrates  the  most  prosaic  of  visitors,  and 
the  epithet  "romantic"  would  make  a  common 
ground  of  agreement  for  almost  all  of  its  lovers 
and  critics. 

It  is  a  city  where  the  time- value  is  radically  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  the  great  cities  of  the  Old 
World.  On  the  white  screen  of  a  cinema  we  have 
seen  tight-rolled  flower-buds  unfurling  with  magic 
swiftness  into  full-blowing  blossoms.  The  show- 
man has  "quickened  up"  a  process  of  nature  too 
slow  for  the  human  eye.  So  is  it  with  New  York. 
Its  budding  has  been  bioscopic,  and  the  full-flower- 
ing proceeds  with  the  rapidity  of  a  film. 

New  York  is  a  cinema  city,  a  studio  where  life- 
stories  are  worked  out  with  passionate  speed,  and 
human  dramas — melodramas,  if  it  please  you  so  to 
term  them — are  concentrated  into  tabloid  form. 
There  is  a  sense  of  latent  unreality  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  New  York.  Its  backgrounds  are  like  the 
settings  of  a  cinema  studio.  View  the  water-front 
from  the  harbor  in  the  early  haze  of  an  October 
morning,  and  its  fantastic  sky-line  prints  itself  on 
the  retina  as  the  painted  canvas  of  a  trick  drama. 
One  would  feel  no  surprise  if  those  forty  and  fifty- 
storied  buildings  were  to  shoot  up  under  one's  eyes 
into  hundred-storied  giants,  or  collapse  like  a  con- 
certina into  dwarfs.  One  might  take  it  as  an  ordi- 
nary event  of  the  day  if  they  were  to  twine  and 
untwine,  bow  and  posture  in  the  figures  of  a  morris 
dance  or  a  tango. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  229 

Wall  Street,  Broad  Street,  Lower  Broadway, 
Nassau  Street,  Maiden  Lane  and  their  tributary 
canons  are  the  inventions  of  a  cinema  director 
filming  a  three-reel  romance  of  "The  Battle  of  Big 
Money."  By  some  magic  of  architecture  they  are 
not  gloomy — as  with  the  rabbit-warren  of  the  City 
of  London — for  the  shrewd  director  has  arranged 
the  lighting  so  that  his  camera-man  can  film  "in 
once,"  and  no  fogging  need  call  for  a  "makeover" 
of  the  scenes. 

Note  how  cleverly  he  has  placed  the  insignificance 
of  Trinity  Church  and  its  tiny  graveyard  to  ac- 
centuate the  relentlessness  of  his  towering  build- 
ings alongside.  Mark  the  showman  spirit  that 
has  left  clear  the  open  space  of  Battery  Point,  so 
that  the  emigrants  ferried  over  from  Ellis  Island* 
— the  crucible  of  the  American  nation — can  contrast 
across  a  hundred  yards  of  greenery  with  the  over- 
lords of  finance  and  commerce. 

Park  Row — the  hub  of  newspaperdom — is  the 
cinema  director's  idea  of  how  a  Fleet  Street  should 
look.  He  has  posed  it  touching  shoulders  with  the 
financial  district  and  the  octagonal  whiteness  of  City 
Hall,  and  within  arm's  length  he  has  gathered  the 
clotted  congeries  of  the  Russian  Jews,  the  Italians, 
the  score  of  nations  that  vaguely  call  themselves 
Austria-Hungarian,  the  Greeks,  the  Syrians,  the 
Chinese  and  the  hundred  hybrids  whose  mentality 
ferments  and  effervesces  into  the  life  of  the  nation. 

Brooklyn  Bridge  at  the  rush-hour,  morning  or 
evening — that  alone  is  a  perfect  film-setting  for  the 
caption  of  "Their  Daily  Bread." 

The  lower  East   Side   is   the  apotheosis   of  a 


230  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Whitechapel  or  a  Soho.  It  seethes  like  yeast  in 
the  brewing-vat.  Yet  the  hideous  poverty  of  it  is 
not  depressing  with  the  hopeless  fatality  of  the 
slums  of  Europe,  because  the  atmosphere  of  ro- 
mance throws  an  iridescent  veil  over  all.  The 
sweated  under-dog  of  to-day  may  be  a  marshal  of 
industry  ten  years  hence.  Dramas  of  fortune  work 
themselves  out  with  a  rapidity  startlingly  unreal  to 
the  spectator  from  the  Old  World.  Class-barriers 
practically  do  not  exist.  Brains,  energy,  grit — and 
unscrupulousness — find  an  open  market.  A  novel 
thought,  translated  into  terms  of  art  or  commerce, 
is  welcomed  on  its  sheer  novelty — and  as  quickly 
scrapped  to  give  place  to  the  successor.  There  is 
no  permanence  and  little  stability.  Yesterday  is 
forgotten.  To-day  is  the  guest  in  the  seat  of  honor. 
To-morrow  is  already  eyeing  his  place  and  planning 
to  oust  him. 

The  cinema  director  constructed  his  Central  Park 
to  give  the  maximum  of  "locations"  in  a  strictly 
limited  area.  There  is  none  of  that  broad  spacious- 
ness of  Hyde  Park  and  Kensington  Gardens,  the 
Bois  de  la  Chambre  or  the  Gardens  of  the  Villa 
Borghese.  Lake,  drives,  pavements  and  paths  twist 
and  turn  on  one  another;  rocks  and  grottoes, 
hillocks  and  minute  valleys  are  clustered  in  that 
same  spirit  which  compresses  minutes  to  seconds. 
It  is  an  epitome  of  a  dozen  parks.  So  with  the 
houses.  A  suite  of  apartments  in  London,  Paris, 
Berlin  or  Rome,  leisurely  spreading  over  a  whole 
floor,  is  here  compressed  to  a  three-room  dwelling, 
with  furniture  that  gives  the  maximum  service  in 
the  minimum  space,  and  cunningly  devised  cup- 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  231 

boards  which  serve  the  purpose  of  kitchen,  bath- 
room and  store-room. 

He  laid  out  his  Broadway  for  night  effects.  Until 
six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  Broadway  from  23rd 
to  5Oth  is  a  disappointingly  narrow  artery  of  traf- 
fic. After  six  it  becomes  an  Arabian  Nights  bi- 
zarrity.  The  colored  lights  of  the  electric  signs 
blaze  out  a  challenge  to  any  other  city  in  the  world. 
Flash-light  advertisements  battle  with  one  another 
to  claim  the  fleeting  attention  of  the  crowds  by 
their  novelty,  .their  humor,  their  naive  childish- 
ness or  their  crushing  size.  A  siphon  spouts  out 
fiery  liquid  into  a  waiting  tumbler;  a  skirt  rustles 
electrically  in  a  breeze;  a  bulldog  demonstrates  the 
tenacity  of  brush-bristles;  Roman  chariots  race 
around  an  arena  to  prove  which  is  the  "World's 
Leader"  in  soap,  in  shoes,  in  cigarettes,  or  in  gar- 
ters. 

By  midnight  the  scene  in  Times  or  Herald  Square 
— "Squares"  only  by  cinema  compression — is  a 
kaleidoscope  of  fashion,  vice,  beauty  and  rampant 
crime.  The  cabaret  restaurants  jostle  one  another 
for  patronage.  They  are  crowded  beyond  compare 
with  Europe.  The  life  is  glittering,  feverish,  ever 
speeding  with  cinema  rapidity. 

And  the  noises  of  Broadway!  How  cunningly 
the  film-man  has  marshaled  his  sound  effects.  Tak- 
ing the  dull  roar  of  wheeled  traffic  for  his  back- 
ground, he  splashes  over  it  the  hoots,  the  grunts, 
the  squeals  of  the  motor-horns;  the  plaintive  bleat 
of  the  river-sirens;  the  crisp  clang  of  the  street- 
car gongs;  the  thunder  of  the  L-trains;  and  the 
maxim-gun  spatter  of  the  pneumatic  riveter  at  work 


232  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

on  a  skyscraper  upshooting  in  a  skeleton  of  steel 
girders. 

Hideous?  Perhaps.  The  discords  of  a  Strauss 
and  a  Gauguin  have  also  been  labeled  hideous.  One 
must  not  be  too  near  to  the  orchestra  or  the  pic- 
ture. Let  an  elevator  whizz  you  up  to  the  twen- 
tieth story  of  some  business  building  in  itself  de- 
serted and  silent,  and  the  discords  will  coalesce  into 
an  intricate  harmony  of  sound;  the  blaring  lights 
will  tone  into  a  soft  music  of  color  spread  out 
over  the  half-tones  of  black  and  brown  that  tell 
of  miles  of  roofs  sheltering  a  life  vivid  and  vibrant 
— ambitious,  struggling,  greedy,  ruthless,  yet  ar- 
resting in  its  drama  and  pulse-stirring  in  its  sense 
of  speed. 

New  York  is  a  cinema  picture  of  a  modern 
Bagdad. 


WEAVING  IN  MILLIONS 

The  giant  ferrier  turned  slowly  in  mid-stream  of 
the  Hudson  River  until  its  bow  pointed  to  one  of 
the  hundred  out  jutting  wharves  which  fringe  the 
margin  of  Manhattan  Island,  and  then  surrendered 
itself  into  the  care  of  a  score  of  tugs  hovering 
around  like  terriers.  They  lined  up  their  blunt 
snouts  against  the  huge  hull,  and  bunted  it  uncere- 
moniously, like  a  mere  freight  car  into  the  ap- 
pointed siding. 

In  the  dark  of  the  customs  shed,  among  the 
group  of  relatives  and  friends  awaiting  the  incom- 
ing vessel,  was  Michael  Riordan.  With  the  ready 
courtesy — or  rather,  good-fellowship — of  the  New 
York  business  man,  he  had  come  in  person  to  greet 
his  guests  on  the  doorstep  of  America.  He  had  no 
stiff  pride  to  keep  him  back,  nor  did  he  consider  it 
bad  business  to  be  forward  in  welcome.  His  soft 
felt  hat  was  tilted  on  the  back  of  his  head  as  he 
surveyed  the  upper  decks  for  Warde  and  Cosway, 
showing  in  full  a  frank,  open,  ruddy  countenance 
and  a  pair  of  blue  eyes,  alert,  shrewd,  humorous, 
with  a  hundred  tiny  wrinkles  at  their  corners.  The 
passage  of  fifty  years  had  scarcely  thinned  his  hair, 
though  its  redness  had  toned  to  a  reddish  silver. 

233 


234  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

He  might  have  been  placed  as  a  country  squire. 
No  stranger  could  have  read  in  him  a  former 
Fenian  and  a  political  highwayman. 

Though  he  had  never  seen  the  two  Englishmen 
before — since  Warde's  system  of  television  was 
not  yet  perfect  enough  to  carry  across  the  Atlantic 
— his  shrewd  judgment  of  men  enabled  him  to  pick 
them  out  from  the  crowd  on  the  hurricane  deck. 
He  waved  a  hand  in  friendly  greeting,  and  when 
they  came  down  the  gangway  in  the  line  of  passen- 
gers, he  extended  a  big  fist  for  a  cordial  hand- 
shake. 

"Leave  your  baggage  to  my  secretary,"  said  Ri- 
ordan.  "He'll  see  it  through  the  customs.  Where 
are  you  putting  up?" 

"We've  taken  rooms  at  the  Plaza." 

"I'll  drive  you  there.  I've  given  your  names  in 
at  my  clubs,  and  if  you're  not  too  busy  to-night, 
I'd  like  to  introduce  you  to  a  dozen  good  fellows. 
And  the  wife  wants  you  at  our  little  place  on  Long 
Island  for  the  week-end.  You're  lions,  you  know. 
Going  to  see  the  States  while  you're  here?  I  can 
get  you  a  private  car  over  the  Penna.  and  the  South- 
ern Pacific,  and  give  you  introductions  all  round 
the  West." 

It  was  American  hospitality  at  its  warmest — 
and,  to  be  sure,  an  excellent  business  move. 

At  the  Van  Twiller  Club  that  evening,  Warde 
and  Cosway  found  themselves  in  an  atmosphere  of 
cordial  good-fellowship.  Men  high  in  finance  and 
business  greeted  them  as  though  they  were  old 
friends.  There  was  no  secrecy  about  the  reason 
of  their  visit  to  America.  Riordan  seemed  to  have 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  235 

no  objection  to  letting  the  whole  world  guess  that 
he  was  conducting  a  deal  in  wireless  telephony.  Ap- 
parently a  code  of  business  honor  would  prevent 
any  rivals  poaching  on  his  preserves,  or  it  may  have 
been  that  his  position  was  secure  enough  to  wave 
away  any  fear  of  rivals.  He  introduced  his  guests 
to  every  man  he  came  across,  and  before  the  even- 
ing finished  Warde  and  Cosway  had  invitations 
pressed  on  them  sufficiently  to  occupy  the  better 
part  of  a  month  if  they  cared  to  accept. 

In  the  meanwhile,  a  game  of  poker  was  of  course 
formed  for  their  amusement.  It  was  tacitly  as- 
sumed that  every  man-of-the-world  must  play  and 
love  poker.  The  stakes  were,  for  overlords  of  in- 
dustry, ludicrously  small;  it  was  not  gambling  so 
much  as  an  occasion  for  good-humored  chaffing. 
The  national  spirit  of  the  States  runs  to  talking 
games.  While  the  Englishman's  etiquette  demands 
silence  and  restraint  during  the  conduct  of  games, 
the  American  seems  to  relish  the  outwitting  of  an 
opponent  by  clever  talk. 

From  the  Club,  Riordan  took  his  guests  on  to 
midnight  Broadway,  showing  them  the  glittering 
life  of  half  a  dozen  of  the  most  famous  "lobster 
palaces,"  pointing  out  celebrities,  and  keeping  up  a 
running  fire  of  dryly  humorous  anecdote. 

As  he  left  them  at  the  door  of  the  Plaza,  Riordan 
said:  "Suppose  you  fellows  come  to  Long  Island 
to-morrow  to  talk  business  ?  It's  more  comfortable 
than  the  office.  I'll  send  the  car  for  you.  That 
suit?" 

"Excellently." 

"Nine-thirty?" 


236  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"Right." 

The  next  morning,  they  were  seated  in  comfort- 
able basket  chairs  in  the  garden  of  Riordan's  home, 
with  the  lapping  waters  of  the  quiet  Sound  not 
twenty  yards  distant.  Though  late  October,  it  was 
the  midway  of  Indian  summer,  cloudless  and  hot; 
hot  enough  to  make  open-air  lazing  a  delight ;  only 
the  stripping  trees  told  of  the  fall  of  the  year. 

On  tables  by  their  sides  they  spread  out  their 
several  bundles  of  documents  and  plans,  while  a  ne- 
gro butler  with  a  comic  frizz  of  white  hair,  faithful 
to  his  master  since  the  old  political  days,  served  the 
inevitable  highballs.  Riordan  addressed  him  as 
"Jim"  and  treated  him  as  a  friend. 

"Here's  to  a  deal  that  will  satisfy  all  of  us!" 
sang  Riordan  to  the  tune  of  "Here's  to  the  maiden 
of  bashful  fifteen,"  as  he  raised  his  glass.  "The 
only  good  business  is  what's  good  for  both  sides." 

Then  he  plunged  into  the  heart  of  affairs:  "As 
you  know,  I  want  to  develop  the  American  end 
of  your  business.  You  can't  do  it  by  running  a 
subsidiary  of  your  own  this  side." 

"Why  not?"  objected  Cosway,  who  believed  in 
contesting  every  point  raised  by  an  opponent. 

Riordan  laughed  his  hearty,  country-squire  laugh. 

"I've  retired  from  politics,  as  perhaps  you  know, 
but  that's  not  to  say  that  politics  don't  exist  any 
longer.  Wall  Street  and  Congress  are  always  on 
friendly  terms.  We  let  them  in  on  our  little  deals 
before  the  general  public,  and  in  return  they  look 
with  the  gladsome  eye  on  the  measures  we  favor. 
It's  not  called  'graft'  any  longer,  but  it's  a  chip 
off  the  old  block  with  college  manners  and  a  Euro- 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  237 

pean  finish.  Now  in  this  particular  case,  if  you 
were  to  float  an  American  subsidiary  under  the  laws 
of  the  United  States,  you  would  find  Congress  run- 
ning up  a  tariff  or  amending  the  patent  laws  or  gen- 
erally raising  legal  hell  for  you.  They  would  dress 
up  the  old  scarecrow  of  the  Constitution,  and  pull 
the  strings  so  that  it  hit  you  a  mighty  hard  whack." 

"I'll  take  your  word  for  it,"  smiled  Warde. 

"On  the  other  hand,  if  we  run  the  company,  I 
guess  you'll  find  Congress  offering  sites  for  stations 
on  a  lordly  dish,  and  smiling  like  the  little  boy  at  the 
jam-jar.  The  men  with  me  on  this  proposition  are 
Clough,  of  Consolidated  Steel,  and  Leishman,  Van- 
deventer.  Clough  would  swing  the  manufacturing 
end,  and  Leishman,  Vandeventer  would  charm  the 
yellow-backs  from  the  public." 

"Let's  see  your  draft  plan." 

Riordan  produced  from  his  bundle  of  papers  a 
map  of  North  and  South  America  marked  with  the 
proposed  sites  for  wireless  stations,  and  whole  ta- 
bles of  figures  which  he  proceeded  to  expound  with 
keen  relish,  like  a  schoolboy  making  holiday  plans. 

"Does  it  listen  good?"  he  concluded. 

"I  have  an  alternative  to  propose,"  said  Warde. 
"Would  you  care  to  buy  up  world-rights?" 

It  was  characteristic  of  Riordan  that  this  amazing 
suggestion  did  not  bring  from  him  any  exclamation 
of  surprise.  Within  a  second,  within  the  cinema 
quickness  of  a  New  York  business  man,  he  had  ad- 
justed his  mind  to  the  new  possibility. 

"Including  the  British  Empire?"  asked  Riordan, 
much  as  he  might  say:  "Including  the  Falkland 
Islands?" 


838  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"Inclusive.  To  work  our  patents  in  Great  Bri- 
tain and  Ireland,  their  Dominions  and  Dependen- 
cies; in  North  and  South  America;  and  wherever 
else  one  could  obtain  a  footing." 

"How  much?" 

"In  round  figures,  the  capitalization  I  suggest 
is  ten  million  pounds — fifty  million  dollars." 

"Would  your  Government  stand  for  it?" 

"We're  a  free  country.  It's  open  to  anyone  to 
form  companies,  manufacture  or  trade  inside  the 
Empire.  You  would  take  over  controlling  shares 
in  our  present  companies." 

"Fifty  million  dollars,"  mused  Riordan,  and  then 
a  new  line  of  thought  sent  a  glow  all  over  his 
rounded  countenance  and  his  alert  blue  eyes. 

"I've  struck  the  right  plan!"  said  he  with  em- 
phasis. "You  know  what  happened  with  the  tin- 
plate  trade  and  the  steel  trade  over  here  ?  The  sep- 
arate manufacturers  were  cutting  one  another's 
throats  until  the  big  man  came  along  and  proposed 
amalgamation.  He  capitalized  the  tin-plate  trade 
at  three  times  its  normal  valuation,  and  when  com- 
petition was  removed,  the  'water'  was  turned  into 
actual  value.  Prices  were  raised,  and  the  public 
paid.  Had  to.  Same  with  steel.  Now  suppose 
we  try  to  amalgamate  all  long-distance  communica- 
tion— cables,  wireless  telegraphy  and  wireless  tele- 
phony. That  would  be  a  job  to  be  proud  of!" 

The  cinema  quickness  of  the  atmosphere  of  New 
York  had  already  invaded  Warde.  He  too  showed 
no  surprise  at  this  still  more  amazing  proposal. 
"I  should  be  willing  to  try,"  he  answered  briskly. 
"But  while  you  might  get  the  cable  companies 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  239 

into  the  ring,  you  would  have  to  eliminate  the  wire- 
less telegraphy  people.  They  are  tied  up  with  our 
Government." 

"Agreed.  But  your  wireless  telephony  is  putting 
them  out  of  date.  Telephony  is  going  to  be  the 
staple  of  communication — coupled  with  television." 

"Have  you  any  idea,"  asked  Cos  way,  "how  much 
money  would  be  needed  for  such  a  combine?" 

"I  must  work  out  figures  from  the  present  capi- 
talization of  all  the  companies  we  should  want  to 
amalgamate.  It  may  be  anywhere  from  a  hundred 
to  two  hundred  million  dollars.  But  in  stock. 
Understand  that.  The  tin-plate  men  and  the  steel 
men  were  paid  in  stock  certificates,  and  the  public 
made  those  certificates  into  money." 

He  proceeded  into  a  discussion  of  technicalities 
which  continued  until  Mrs.  Riordan  came  out  to 
the  garden  to  warn  them  of  lunch.  She  was  a 
homely,  motherly  woman,  still  showing  her  humble 
Irish  origin  and  making  no  effort  to  disguise  it. 

"Molly  is  ruler  here,"  laughed  Riordan.  "We 
shall  have  to  turn  up  business  until  after  lunch." 

"Ruler  indeed!    The  blarneying  tongue  of  him! 

'Tis  that  way  he  made  me  wife." 

****** 

"Amalgamation"  is  a  blessed  word  on  paper,  but 
in  actual  practice  it  involves  negotiations  of  the 
most  complex  and  delicate  nature. 

They  had  first  to  convince  Clough  and  Vande- 
venter — harder,  colder  men,  no  silver-tongued  ne- 
gotiators, men  who  saw  paper  figures  in  terms  of 
solid  cash.  It  meant  endless  arrayings  of  figures 
and  discussions  with  lawyers  before  even  the  pre- 


240  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

liminaries  of  amalgamation  could  be  sanctioned  by 
the  money-finders.  It  was  agreed  that  the  proposed 
combine  should  be  kept  as  secret  as  possible,  while 
outsiders  would  probably  imagine  that  it  was  a 
simple  deal  for  the  American  rights  in  wireless 
telephony. 

They  began  with  the  American-owned  cable  com- 
panies. Weeks  lengthened  out  in  interviews,  dis- 
cussions, prolonged  considerations,  renewed  inter- 
views. The  Indian  summer  flicked  away  with  the 
suddenness  of  a  cinema  film,  and  the  director 
staged  a  cold  snap  that  turned  roads  iron-hard  and 
made  the  universal  steam-heating  at  last  tolerable 
to  the  two  Englishmen.  Then  he  provided  a  spec- 
tacular blizzard,  and  switched  on  the  sun  to  show' a 
gleaming  white  New  York  before  snow  melted  into 
slush  ankle  deep  and  the  Florida  railways  ran 
double  shifts  of  trains. 

In  December  the  three  men  took  boat  for  Europe. 
Coupled  in  the  plan  was  the  co-operation  of  the 
Rademeyer  firm.  Riordan  and  Warde  went  on  to 
Berlin,  while  Cosway  stepped  off  at  Southampton 
to  return  to  London. 

Warde  followed  at  the  heels  of  the  American. 
He  was  content  to  let  matters  work  themselves  out 
until  there  came  the  crisis  for  which  he  was  so 
patiently  playing  in  this  intricate  game  of  finance. 
Rademeyer,  cautious,  would  make  no  definite  ar- 
rangement, though  secretly  he  was  delighted  to 
think  that  his  old  enemy  was  giving  himself  into 
the  hands  of  his  friends  the  American  capitalists. 

Christmas  was  now  close  at  hand.    Warde  ex- 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  241 

cused  himself  on  the  grounds  of  joining  his  family, 
and  while  he  returned  to  London,  Riordan  pro- 
ceeded to  Rome  and  Madrid  in  pursuance  of  the 
elaborate  scheme. 


CHAPTER   XI 

SELF-ANALYSIS 

Christmas  brought  a  lull  to  affairs  of  business. 
Practically  for  the  first  time  in  that  year  of  con- 
tinuous struggle  and  over-weighing  responsibilities, 
Warde  was  able  to  give  himself  completely  to  his 
wife  and  children.  He  strove  to  balance  the  neglect 
of  a  twelvemonth  by  the  compressed  affection  of 
ten  days,  and  ransacked  Bond  Street  for  presents 
for  Eve  which  would  form  an  outward  token. 

Yet  now  that  Eve  had  her  husband  to  herself, 
ready  to  fall  in  with  any  plan  and  satisfy  any  whim, 
she  appeared  to  resent  it.  The  warmth  of  welcome 
after  a  separation  of  two  months  was  wholly  on  his 
side.  She  yielded  herself  to  him  only  with  a  passive 
reluctance.  She  was  cold,  reserved,  distrait — and 
nervy.  The  tiniest  trifle  of  an  annoyance  seemed 
magnified  by  her  husband's  presence. 

One  evening  they  returned  from  the  theater  to 
the  supper  laid  out  for  them  in  the  dining-room  at 
Cadogan  Square,  in  an  oppressive  silence.  Since 
the  fall  of  the  curtain  they  had  scarcely  exchanged 
a  word  beyond  the  bare  necessities. 

The  supper  over,  Eve  offered  a  cold  good-night 
and  moved  to  go  upstairs  to  her  room. 

"I  want  to  talk  to  you,"  said  Hilary  abruptly. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  243 

"I'm  tired.    In  the  morning  will  do." 

"No,  now.  I  want  to  know  what  on  earth  is 
the  matter  with  you." 

"I'm  tired.    The  play  was  boring." 

"It's  much  more  than  that.  Since  I've  returned 
from  America,  I  seem  either  to  bore  you  or  irritate 
you.  For  Heaven's  sake  let's  talk  out  the  trouble." 

He  pointed  to  a  chair  near  the  fire.  With  an  air 
of  reluctant  obedience,  Eve  seated  herself. 

"I'm  listening,"  she  said.  "But  please  don't 
preach  at  me." 

"I  want  you  to  preach  at  me — anything  rather 
than  this  shell  of  reserve,  as  though  I  were  a  mere 
stranger.  Tell  me  frankly  what  it  is  that's  simmer- 
ing in  you.  What  have  you  got  against  me? 
Where  have  I  offended  you  ?  Dissect  me  ?" 

"Very  well.  For  twelve  months  you  put  me  in 
the  second  place  to  wireless,  and  then  you  expect 
to  balance  it  with  a  caress  and  a  necklace."  De- 
liberately unfastening  his  latest  present  from  the 
soft  curves  of  her  throat,  she  placed  it  on  a  small 
table  between  them. 

"And  that's  the  whole  trouble?" 

Meeting  his  scrutiny  without  wavering,  she  an- 
swered :  "That's  the  root  of  the  trouble." 

"But  I've  explained  so  often  before.  I'm  not 
master  of  my  own  time.  America — I  had  to  go 
there  in  order  to  get  a  bid  for  W.  Tels,  something 
tangible  to  show  to  Kerr-Dyce  and  the  English  pub- 
lic in  general.  When  I  told  him  that  I  had  offers 
from  foreign  firms,  he  smiled  skeptically.  He  rep- 
resents the  average  popular  view.  He's  a  mere 
politician." 


244  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Eve  kept  silent,  her  gaze  intent  on  the  glowing 
coals. 

Hilary  resumed:  "Only  give  me  time  to  round 
off  my  work.  Then  I'll  be  yours  completely." 

"This  deal  of  yours  may  drag  on  for  years." 

"It  ought  to  be  settled  for  good  and  all  within 
six  months." 

"Compare  us  with  Viola  and  Geoffrey.  He  has  a 
career  as  well  as  yourself,  but  he  hasn't  made  him- 
self a  slave  to  it." 

Hilary  took  up  the  pearl  necklace  and  passed  it 
through  his  fingers.  "I  was  trying  to  show  you 
that  I'm  still  your  lover." 

There  was  silence  between  them. 

"Do  you  want  me  to  throw  over  my  work  now, 
just  when  nine  years  of  building  up  are  leading  to 
the  keystone?"  he  resumed. 

"No." 

"Are  you  regretting  Esk?" 

"No." 

"I  passed  him  in  Bond  Street  yesterday.  He 
looks  twenty  years  older — a  pantaloon  of  a  man 
only  held  together  by  his  doctors  and  his  tailor  and 
his  corset-maker." 

Eve  shuddered. 

"They  say,"  pursued  Hilary,  "that  his  wife  is 
not  living  with  him." 

"Is  there  anything  remarkable  in  that?  There 
are  plenty  of  married  couples  we  know  who  are  not 
living  with  one  another.  After  five  or  six  years 
of  marriage,  it's  scarcely  natural." 

He  dropped  the  necklace  on  the  table  with  a  sud- 
den clatter. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  245 

"Then  that  is  your  meaning?" 

"I'm  tired  of  being  cross-examined!"  protested 
Eve. 

He  started  to  pace  the  room  agitatedly.  "I 
didn't  realize  that  I  had  made  myself  so  distasteful 
to  you.  I've  been  wrapped  up  in  my  work,  I  know, 
but  I've  never  ceased  to  love  you  since  the  day  we 
ran  away  together.  I  thought  it  would  be  the  same 
with  you.  .  .  .  But  of  course  it  shall  be  as  you 
wish.  .  .  ." 

"You  remember  that  day  before  I  left  for  the 
cruise  to  South  America — in  Miss  Glenistair's  cot- 
tage— when  you  quoted  to  me  that  musty  verse, 
'Man's  love  is  of  his  life  a  thing  apart;  'tis  woman's 
whole  existence'  ?" 

"Yes,"  nodded  Hilary. 

"It's  not  true.  I  don't  think  it  has  ever  been 
true.  A  man  wrote  that  line.  It's  been  held  up 
ever  since  as  man's  pattern  for  woman.  How  un- 
fair it  is  to  make  a  pedestal  for  us,  and  expect  us 
to  live  on  it  whatever  our  temperament  may  be! 
I'm  not  modeled  on  the  angels — I'm  just  a  woman!" 
Her  voice  rang  with  resentment.  "I'm  not  the 
heroine  in  a  sentimental  romance.  I  think  all 
women,  in  secret  thought,  hate  those  heroines.  If 
they  spoke  out  frankly,  they  would  give  their  vote 
for  Becky  Sharpe.  She's  a  reality.  The  Amelia 
type  are  just  man-made  shams.  No  woman  I  know 
of  approaches  the  heroine  of  romance.  They  may 
pretend  to  be  while  they're  husband-hunting — that's 
the  utmost.  .  .  .  Marriage  is  not  only  a  matter  of 
love  or  passion.  It's  a  companionship  of  interests 
— give  and  take.  There's  not  only  the  husband's 


246  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

career,  but  the  wife's  as  well.  You  have  been  so 
wrapped  up  in  your  work  that  it's  never  struck 
you  what  people  might  be  saying  of  us.  'That  poor 
Mrs.  Warde,  married  to  a  business!' ' 

"In  plain  words,  I've  not  given  you  a  career,  and 
that's  why  your  love  has  died  down.  .  .  .  Oh,  my 
dearest,  I've  been  selfish  and  thoughtless!  I  want 
to  win  you  back !  I've  always  thought  you  a  glory 
of  womanhood.  Perhaps  I  haven't  shown  it  open- 
ly, but  I've  worshiped  you." 

To  the  pleading  in  his  voice  there  was  no 
response  from  Eve.  She  moved  wearily  in  her 
chair. 

"I  must  win  you  back!"  he  exclaimed  passion- 
ately, starting  again  to  pace  the  room.  "Of  course 
I  shan't  intrude  myself  on  you.  .  .  .  But  if  you 
would  only  tell  me  what  I  can  do  to  please  you. 
....  As  soon  as  this  last  deal  is  over.  .  .  . 
Couldn't  we  plan  a  voyage  round  the  world?  San 
Francisco,  Japan,  India,  the  South  Sea  Islands.  A 
yacht-party,  if  you  preferred  it.  Or  just  ourselves 
and  the  babies.  .  .  .  But  you're  tired  now.  I'll  say 
good-night." 

Eve  rose  from  her  chair;  and  taking  her  hand, 
he  kissed  it  with  reverence. 

She  moved  from  the  room,  leaving  the  necklace 

behind  her. 

****** 

Miss  Glenistair  had  been  invited  to  spend  Christ- 
mas with  the  Wardes,  but  sudden  illness  prevented 
her  at  the  last  moment.  Hilary  at  once  traveled  to 
Maidstone  to  see  her. 

The  passage  of  six  years  had  left  her  frail,  and 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  247 

now,  with  the  development  of  heart  weakness,  her 
cheeks  had  almost  a  wan  transparency. 

Hilary,  remorseful  at  the  scanty  time  he  had  been 
able  to  devote  to  her  in  the  last  few  years,  put  his 
feelings  into  words,  but  she  would  not  allow  him 
any  self-reproach. 

"My  dearest,"  she  answered  gently,  "your  work 
must  come  before  everything  else.  Science  is  a 
jealous  mistress.  It  has  been  the  great  happiness 
of  my  life  to  watch  you  build  your  career  and  give 
to  your  country  this  wonderful  gift.  You  have 
made  me  feel  so  proud  of  you — I  have  lived  in  your 
success." 

"I  was  a  scientist,  but  now  I  feel  I'm  a  mere 
money-spinner." 

"As  soon  as  you  have  completed  this  work,  I 
want  you,  dear  Hilary,  to  turn  again  to  science. 
There  are  many  other  fields  for  you  to  explore  and 
conquer." 

"Can  I  go  back  ?"  he  mused.  "I  sometimes  doubt 
it.  I'm  warped." 

"No,  that  phase  will  pass.  It  came  from  Sir 
Wilmer's  influence.  You  are  a  scientist  at  heart  and 
a  financier  only  from  expediency.  You  will  do  ever 
greater  work  for  science  in  the  future.  And  Eve,  I 
hope,  will  help  you  to  return.  A  man's  wife  can  do 
so  much  for  him." 

Warde  found  it  difficult  to  answer  this.  "I  owe 
most  to  you,"  he  said. 

"Eve  is  a  woman  of  many  talents,  but  I  doubt  if 
she  has  ever  found  herself.  Tell  me,  dearest,  has 
your  married  life  been  all  you  had  hoped  for?" 

"Quite!"  he  answered  firmly,  for  he  could  not 


248  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

be  disloyal  to  Eve  even  to  the  extent  of  making 
Miss  Glenistair  a  confidante.  "I  have  never  met 
any  woman  I  could  love  but  my  wife." 

"I  am  so  glad  to  hear  that.  Sometimes  I  have 
feared  .  .  .  but  that  is  merely  an  old  woman's 
vague  imagining.  You  have  been  so  precious  to 
me  that  I  have  been  very  jealous  of  the  influence 
of  others." 

"I  have  had  no  regrets  in  my  marriage.  Eve  has 
been  the  one  woman  in  the  world  to  me.  .  .  .  Now 
let  us  explain  for  yourself.  You  ought  not  to  be  in 
England  in  the  winter." 

"This  cottage  is  my  delight." 

"Yes,  but  you  need  the  sunshine.  I  want  to 
pack  you  away  to  Egypt.  You  must  have  a  com- 
panion, of  course.  I'm  going  to  scour  London  to 
find  the  right  girl  to  see  to  your  comforts.  A  trip 
up  the  Nile  in  a  private  dahabeah — how  does  that 
appeal  to  you?" 

"It  would  be  very  pleasant." 

"As  soon  as  the  doctor  allows  you  to  move,  I'll 
travel  with  you  myself  as  far  as  Cairo." 

"But  your  work " 

"It  can  be  left.  It  must  be  left.  There's  no 
claim  on  my  time  more  important  than  you.  Al- 
ready I've  neglected  you  far  too  much." 

She  reached  for  his  hand  and  pressed  it  tenderly. 


CHAPTER   XII 

SPARK  AND  EXPLOSION 

"There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  secret;  the  nearest 
approach  to  it  is  a  conspiracy  of  silence/' 

Especially  is  this  so  with  a  project  of  amalgama- 
tion in  which  a  score  of  men,  of  varying  degrees  of 
trustworthiness,  have  to  be  approached  and  their 
agreement  solicited.  Rumors,  at  least,  are  bound 
to  find  currency.  What  Warde  hoped  for  came  in 
February,  when  Michael  Riordan  was  in  London 
in  pursuance  of  his  campaign. 

Warde  was  called  to  ttye  'phone  one  evening  by 
the  editor  of  the  "Courier,"  the  paper  he  hsd  sub- 
sidized and  still  employed  as  the  mouthpiece  of  W. 
Tels. 

"I  have  a  report  sent  in,"  said  the  editor,  "that 
you  are  negotiating  to  hand  over  your  companies 
to  an  American  trust." 

Warde's  pulse  quickened.  Action  was  starting — 
the  action  for  which  he  had  so  patiently  been  laying 
the  foundation. 

"Deny  it,"  he  replied  briskly. 

"It  comes  from  the  'Central  News' — it's  a  report 
sent  to  all  the  papers  that  take  their  service. 
Usually  they  are  very  reliable  with  their  informa- 
tion." 

249 


250  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"Deny  it,"  repeated  Warde. 

"I  could  ignore  it  altogether  if  you  preferred 
that,"  suggested  the  editor.  He  had  no  relish  for 
the  part  of  his  duty  which  bound  him  to  take  orders 
from  Warde  on  any  matter  affecting  W.  Tels.  He 
would  have  liked  to  avoid  any  reference  to  the  com- 
pany and  keep  to  the  legitimate  work  of  a  news- 
paper. 

"If  the  other  papers  print  the  report,  contradict 
it  emphatically." 

"On  your  authority?  That  is,  mentioning  your- 
self." 

"Decidedly." 

"Between  ourselves,  Mr.  Warde,  is  there  any 
foundation  for  the  news?" 

"None  whatever." 

The  morning  papers  printed  the  paragraph  from 
the  "Central  News" — mostly  as  a  mere  rumor  of  no 
great  public  interest.  The  "Courier,"  as  in  duty 
bound,  stated  that  the  story  was  baseless.  Warde 
sent  a  vigorous  circular  letter  to  all  the  other 
newspapers  impeaching  their  accuracy. 

That  blew  the  tiny  spark  into  flame.  Staid  news- 
papers and  sensational  newspapers  alike — they  are 
in  London  all  highly  touchy  on  the  subject  of  ac- 
curacy. It  is  part  of  their  creed  that  they  print  noth- 
ing but  the  truth,  though  possibly  they  might  admit 
to  picking  out  those  parts  of  the  truth  which  are 
in  line  with  the  particular  policy  of  their  journal. 

Consequently  they  sent  our  reporters  to  ferret  for 
details,  and  on  the  following  morning  repeated  their 
statement  with  considerable  elaboration.  The 
American  trust  was  represented  by  a  Mr.  Michael 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  251 

Riordan,  now  in  London  and  staying  at  the  Cecil. 
Communication  with  New  York  had  brought  out 
the  information  that  this  Mr.  Riordan  was  a  former 
Fenian  and  a  corrupt  "political  boss." 

Riordan,  waylaid  by  reporters,  naturally  denied 
the  story.  It  was  quite  against  his  own  interests 
that  the  delicate  process  of  amalgamation  should 
be  shown  to  the  public  in  the  undress  stage.  He 
told  the  newspaper  men  that  he  was  merely  nego- 
tiating for  the  Western  Hemisphere  rights  in  wire- 
less telephony. 

Public  opinion,  so  apathetic  in  most  matters  of 
national  importance,  became  suddenly  roused.  It 
was  not  the  essential  of  the  matter — the  selling 
abroad  of  the  wireless  patents-=-that  concerned  them 
so  much  as  the  words  "trust,"  "Fenian,"  and  "po- 
litical boss."  They  pictured  this  Mr.  Michael  Rior- 
dan, hitherto  unknown  to  them,  as  holding  a  blud- 
geon in  one  hand  and  a  bomb  in  the  other,  while 
with  a  third  hand  he  distributed  wads  of  bank- 
notes to  his  menial  politicians.  Letters  to  the 
papers  protested  heatedly  against  the  exploiting  of 
England  by  ravenous  American  trusts. 

Then  the  newspapers  came  out  with  the  statement 
that  wireless  telephony — the  product  of  British 
brains  and  a  national  asset — was  to  be  sold  abroad, 
lock,  stock  and  barrel,  for  the  sum  of  eight  million 
pounds  by  Mr.  Hilary  Warde,  whose  career  as  a 
financier  was  highly  unsavory  even  if  strictly  legal. 
They  called  on  the  shareholders  of  W.  Tels  and  its 
Sheffield  subsidiary  to  protest  against  and  outvote 
such  an  unpatriotic  proposal. 


252  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Warde,  by  still  denying  the  newspaper  statements, 
added  fuel  to  the  flame. 

In  the  course  of  a  fortnight  it  had  blazed  a  na- 
tional question,  and  interrogations  were  made  in 
Parliament  by  members  of  the  Opposition,  glad  of 
any  excuse  to  harass  the  Government : 

"To  ask  the  Postmaster-General  if  he  has  any 
official  knowledge  of  the  proposed  sale  to  an  Ameri- 
can syndicate  of  the  world-rights  in  wireless  tele- 
phony ;  and  what  steps  he  proposes  to  take  to  make 
such  a  sale  nugatory  as  affecting  the  British  Em- 
pire." 

"To  ask  the  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty  if  he  has 
protected  the  interests  of  the  Navy  in  the  matter  of 
wireless  telephony;  and  if  not,  what  course  of  action 
he  intends  to  pursue." 

Kerr-Dyce  and  the  other  members  of  the  Cabinet, 
realizing  from  the  editorials  in  the  papers,  the  let- 
ters from  readers,  and  the  conversation  of  clubs, 
that  they  had  been  placed  on  the  wrong  side  of 
popular  favor  by  Warde' s  maneuver,  decided  that 
they  must  take  some  step  to  allay  the  public  feel- 
ing. Kerr-Dyce  proposed  to  appeal  to  Warde's 
patriotism;  smooth  him  into  breaking  off  negotia- 
tions with  the  American  syndicate ;  and  in  that  way 
create  much  popularity  for  his  party  and  himself. 

Accordingly  he  wrote  to  Warde,  asking  if  the 
latter  would  call  upon  him  at  Ebury  Square  at  an 
early  moment. 

The  reply,  cold  and  curt,  came  over  a  secretary's 
signature;  Mr.  Warde  was  extremely  busy,  and 
had  little  time  to  spare.  Would  Mr.  Kerr-Dyce 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  253 

explain  what  it  was  that  he  wished  to  discuss  at  an 
interview  ? 

The  politician  then  endeavored  to  reach  Warde 
over  the  'phone.  Again  a  secretary  intervened. 
Kerr-Dyce,  after  vainly  trying  to  sidetrack  this 
subordinate,  was  forced  to  mention  that  the  subject 
to  be  discussed  was  the  rumored  sale  abroad  of  the 
wireless  telephony  patents.  Would  Mr.  Warde 
suggest  a  convenient  time  to  call  at  Ebury  Square  ? 

The  answer  stated  that  Mr.  Warde  was  still  ex- 
tremely busy;  but  he  could  accord  an  interview  to 
Mr.  Kerr-Dyce  on  the  following  morning  at  Angel 
Court. 

The  politician  replied  that  Angel  Court  was  an 
inconvenient  meeting-place.  (It  was,  in  fact,  highly 
undesirable  for  a  Cabinet  Minister  to  allow  himself 
to  be  seen  entering  an  office  in  the  financial  dis- 
trict.) 

Then  at  Cadogan  Square?  was  the  secretary's 
suggestion. 

Kerr-Dyce  accepted  for  ten  o'clock  the  next 
morning. 

Hilary  mentioned  the  matter  casually  to  his  wife 
over  the  dinner-table.  Eve  had  been  away  on  the 
Riviera  during  part  of  January,  but  had  cut  short 
her  stay  on  the  plea  of  boredom  and  had  returned 
to  London  when  town  was  filling  up  at  the  opening 
of  the  Parliamentary  session. 

He  remarked  in  the  course  of  ordinary  conversa- 
tion :  "I've  asked  Kerr-Dyce  to  call  on  me  here  at 
ten  to-morrow." 

"Why?"  demanded  Eve  sharply. 

"He's  been  fishing  for  an  interview." 


254  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"But  why  here?" 

"Because  I  don't  wish  to  call  on  him.  The  situa- 
tion has  changed.  I'm  no  longer  cooling  my  heels 
in  political  ante-rooms." 

"I  think  you  are  treating  him  very  discourte- 
ously," returned  Eve  with  heightened  color. 

"It's  just  man-handling — a  necessary  move  in 
the  campaign.  What  is  Kerr-Dyce  to  you?" 

There  was  no  ulterior  meaning  in  Warde's  ques- 
tion. He  was  not  voicing  a  suspicion.  Yet  Eve 
had  to  control  her  features  as  she  answered: 
"Nothing,  of  course,  beyond  ordinary  acquaintance- 
ship. I  meant  that  I  object  to  having  the  house 
turned  into  a  business  office." 

"I'm  sorry,  dear :  I'll  cancel  the  appointment  if 
you  wish." 

"Now  that  it's  made,  you'd  better  let  it  stand," 
she  acquiesced  grudgingly. 

Hilary  had  made  very  little  progress  toward  the 
regaining  of  his  wife's  affection  since  that  Christ- 
mas evening  when  she  had  laid  bare  the  cause  of  her 
estrangement.  Neither  humility  nor  marked  efforts 
to  anticipate  her  wishes  had  brought  any  thaw  to 
the  coldness  of  her  reserve.  It  strained  all  his  pa- 
tience to  avoid  an  open  quarrel ;  and  yet  he  was  still 
in  love  with  her.  He  longed  for  the  time  when  he 
could  cut  free  from  his  business  responsibilities  and 
devote  his  energies  to  the  winning  back  of  Eve. 

Only  a  few  months  more ! 

****** 

"Mr.  Kerr-Dyce,"  announced  the  butler,  throw- 
ing open  the  door  of  Warde's  study  the  next  morn- 
ing. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  255 

Warde  offered  a  hand  perfunctorily,  and  passed 
cigars  and  cigarettes  across  the  desk,  littered  with 
letters  and  documents  tied  up  into  bundles.  An  old 
Norfolk  jacket  and  a  favorite  old  briar,  and  his 
general  air  of  business  careless  of  appearances,  con- 
trasted sharply  with  Kerr-Dyce's  close-fitting  morn- 
ing coat  and  silk  hat  and  his  studied  pose  of  leisured 
arrivedness. 

"You  know,  of  course,  why  I  want  a  chat  with 
you,"  began  Kerr-Dyce,  selecting  a  cigarette  with 
the  care  of  a  connoisseur;  and  then  with  smiling 
frankness:  "The  Cabinet,  in  fact,  suggested  it  to 
me." 

"Are  you  speaking  for  the  Cabinet,  or  quite  un- 
officially?" 

"Just  an  informal  chat." 

"Wouldn't  that  be  a  waste  of  time  for  both  of 
us?  I  understood  that  you  would  be  speaking 
officially." 

"Very  well,"  agreed  Kerr-Dyce  pleasantly.  "Let 
us  talk  on  that  footing.  There  are  circumstantial 
rumors  floating  about  to  the  effect  that  you  are 
selling  the  world-rights  of  wireless  telephony  to  an 
American  syndicate.  They  even  go  so  far  as  to 
name  the  sum  at  eight  million  pounds." 

"The  rumors  are  not  of  my  starting,  nor  of  my 
co-directors  on  W.  Tels.  I  have  already  done  my 
best  to  contradict  them." 

"Naturally.  If  the  position  were  as  stated,  you 
would  scarcely  wish  to  make  it  public." 

"Why  not?" 

"It  would  look  somewhat — frankly,  somewhat 
unpatriotic." 


256  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"I  thought  we  had  threshed  out  that  side  of  the 
question  last  August.  You  told  me  at  Louvaulx 
that  wireless  telephony  was  a  mere  commercial 
proposition,  and  on  reflection,  I  came  to  agree  with 
your  view.  If  I  were  now  endeavoring  to  sell  the 
world-rights,  which  I  do  not  admit  for  one  moment, 
I  should  have  every  justification  for  doing  so.  I 
have  to  do  the  best  for  my  shareholders  and  inci- 
dentally for  myself.  If  this  fancy  figure  you  men- 
tion— eight  million  pounds — were  offered  to  us,  I 
should  probably  vote  for  its  acceptance." 

"The  rumors  name  a  Mr.  Michael  Riordan  as 
the  buyer  or  negotiator." 

"I  know  Riordan.  I  believe  him  to  be  straight. 
I  went  over  to  the  States  in  order  to  get  his  co- 
operation in  the  trans-Atlantic  side  of  our  business." 

Kerr-Dyce  studied  the  end  of  his  glowing  ciga- 
rette. "They  have  clever  men  on  Wall  Street,"  he 
suggested  softly. 

"In  England,  'cleverness'  is  the  word  that  damns 
a  man." 

"Exactly.  We  associate  it  with  tricky  dealings. 
I  quite  realize  that  if  you  were  to  accept  an  offer 
from  that  side,  you  would  do  so  in  entire  good 
faith.  You  would  view  it  as  a  justifiable  business 
deal.  But  as  I  say,  they  have  clever  men  on  Wall 
Street,  and  it's  just  possible  that  my  somewhat 
thoughtless  words  of  last  August — unofficial,  as  you 
may  remember — may  have  blinded  you  to  dangerous 
eventualities." 

"Dangerous  to  whom?" 

"To  the  country." 

"In  what  manner  ?" 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  357 

"As  a  question  of  national  defense." 

"Then  the  result  of  that  chat  seems  to  be  that  we 
have  convinced  one  another." 

Kerr-Dyce  laughed  pleasantly.  "We  fling  stones, 
and  are  surprised  when  they  smash  air-holes 
through  somebody's  windows." 

"I  see  no  national  danger  in  having  American 
money  in  our  business,  or  even  controlling  our 
business." 

"Largely  true.  But  there  is  no  reason  why  an 
American  syndicate  should  not,  in  their  turn,  sell 
the  control  to  some  European  Power.  That  might 
be  a  matter  of  very  grave  national  concern.  Sup- 
pose— I  merely  say  suppose — this  Mr.  Riordan  or 
his  associates  were  to  offer  you  eight  millions  with 
the  ultimate  idea  of  obtaining  ten  millions  or  more 
from  a  Continental  Power?" 

"The  merest  supposition." 

"A  possibility." 

"I  cannot  take  account  of  every  future  possi- 
bility." 

"We  in  the  Cabinet  have  to  look  very  far  ahead." 

"What,  in  plain  words,  is  your  object  in  seeing 
me?" 

"In  plain  words,  to  ask  you  to  refuse  any  offer 
for  world-rights  from  foreign  syndicates,  should 
such  an  offer  be  made  at  any  time." 

"And  the  interests  of  my  shareholders?" 

"Your  shareholders  are  Englishmen,  and  noth- 
ing can  be  more  important  to  them  than  the  safety 
of  their  country." 

"Would  you  propose  to  recompense  them  ?" 


258  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"I  am  not  offering  a  bribe.  I  am  appealing  on 
the  grounds  of  patriotism." 

"A  cheap  patriotism  on  the  part  of  the  Cabinet !" 
retorted  Warde. 

"It  would  cost  us  nothing  personally — or  very 
little — to  vote  such  a  bribe.  Suppose  that  an  in- 
come tax  of  a  halfpenny  in  the  pound  were  levied 
to  buy  over  your  wireless  telephony  and  run  it  as  a 
Government  department,  my  personal  share  of  the 
tax  would  be  about  fifteen  pounds  a  year.  I  think 
we  may  dismiss  any  personal  feeling  in  such  a 
matter." 

"It  would  cost  you  popularity  to  raise  a  further 
tax." 

"I  don't  admit  it.  To  buy  over  wireless  tele- 
phony might  be  a  cheap  way  of  gaining  popular 
favor." 

"Then  why  not  make  a  proposal  to  my  com- 
pany?" 

"You  want  such  a  proposal?" 

"We  want  nothing,"  answered  Warde  emphati- 
cally. "Since  last  August,  the  prospects  of  W.  Tels 
have  changed  very  materially.  We  ask  for  no 
Government  help." 

"But  you  would  not  refuse  it  ?" 

"It  would  be  entirely  a  matter  for  the  share- 
holders to  decide." 

"I  understand — correct  me  if  I  am  misinformed 
— that  you  yourself  hold  a  very  substantial  interest 
in  W.  Tels,  sufficient  to  sway  the  voting  one  way  or 
other." 

"Yes." 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  259 

"Then  the  decision — if  it  came  to  a  decision — 
would  practically  rest  with  yourself?" 

"Yes." 

"And  what  would  it  be?" 

"To  sell  abroad." 

"Why?" 

"The  dangers  you  speak  of  seem  to  me  to  be 
entirely  visionary.  The  dangers  you  don't  speak 
of  seem  to  me  to  be  highly  material." 

"And  those  are?" 

"Since  you've  been  frank  with  me,  I'll  be  equally 
frank  with  yourself."  Warde  paused  for  a  mo- 
ment, to  give  weight  to  the  stinging  words  to 
come.  "I  regard  your  record  as  a  politician  as 
wholly  unsatisfactory.  I  regard  the  record  of  your 
Cabinet  as  a  preposterous  sham.  You  have  de- 
stroyed the  work  of  others,  and  you  have  built  up 
nothing  of  your  own  that's  worth  the  building. 
You  are  not  statesmen — you  are  politicians,  time- 
servers,  favor-curriers.  When  popular  feeling  was 
against  the  buying  of  W.  Tels,  you  tried  to  snub  us 
down.  Now  that  popular  feeling  is  the  other  way, 
you  ask  us  to  sacrifice  our  profits  in  order  to  give 
you  cheap  popularity.  If  you  had  wireless  tele- 
phony under  your  control,  you  would  probably 
muddle  it  as  hopelessly  as  you  have  muddled  the 
ordinary  telephony.  A  man  such  as  yourself  steps 
into  a  Cabinet  position  with  no  technical  training 
whatever.  You  were  made  Postmaster-Gerftral  not 
because  you  had  special  qualifications  for  adminis- 
tering a  highly  complex  organization,  but  because 
you  happen  to  be  a  clever  word-spinner,  and  an 
adept  at  currying  popular  favor.  Sooner  than  al- 


860  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

low  you  to  play  this  cheap- jack  party  game  with  a 
work  which  has  cost  me  the  best  part  of  my  life, 
and  a  big  part  of  Sir  Wilmer's,  and  the  many  other 
men  who  have  slaved  for  wireless  telephony,  I'd 
sell  it  abroad  to  any  syndicate  of  trained  organizers. 
Go  back  and  tell  your  Cabinet  that  we  can  choose 
our  buyer  and  dictate  our  price !  Go  back  and  play 
with  words!" 

Kerr-Dyce  was  a  man  who  had  learned  to  control 
his  temper  in  the  most  trying  of  all  schools — politi- 
cal life.  It  was  the  pride  of  his  supporters  that  no 
attack  could  unseat  his  mental  poise.  But  now, 
for  the  first  time  in  many  years,  he  lost  control  of 
himself  in  a  wave  of  anger. 

Damned  impertinence!  Your  twopenny-half- 
penny patents  and  your  swollen  head !  All  inventors 
go  the  same  way.  It  develops  into  a  megalomania. 
You  get  to  think  the  whole  world  is  hinging  on 
your  patents.  The  Government  of  a  country  is  to 
wait  upon  you  and  learn  your  wishes.  Eight  mil- 
lion pounds  for  wireless  telephony?  You'd  be 
lucky  to  find  a  buyer  for  it  at  eight  million  shil- 
lings!" 

But  Warde  had  not  lost  control  of  himself.  With 
a  hand  that  was  cool  and  perfectly  steady,  he  un- 
locked a  drawer  in  the  desk  and  brought  out  a 
typewritten  document  occupying  some  thirty  or 
forty  pages. 

He  turned  over  the  leaves  and  pointed  deliberately 
to  a  paragraph : 

"The  party  of  the  second  part  to  pay  to  the  party 
of  the  first  part  for  the  considerations  aforesaid 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  261 

twenty   million    dollars    in    Preferred    Stock    and 
twenty  million  dollars  in  Common  Stock.  .  .  ." 

"We  can  choose  our  buyer  and  dictate  our  price," 
he  repeated. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

CULMINATION 

On  the  afternoon  of  Friday,  April  12,  an  extraor- 
dinary general  meeting  of  the  W.  Tels  company 
was  held  in  the  big  hall  of  the  Throgmorton  Hotel. 

Warde  was  not  acting  in  his  usual  capacity  of 
chairman.  For  reasons  of  policy,  he  had  decided  to 
stay  away  and  watch  the  proceedings  by  wireless. 
He  sat  in  the  swivel  desk-chair  of  his  study  at 
Cadogan  Square,  with  a  wireless  receiver  banded 
over  his  head  to  the  ears,  and  in  front  of  him  the 
oblong  screen,  about  the  size  of  a  camera  half-plate, 
which  would  mirror  to  him  the  scene  of  the  com- 
pany meeting.  The  transmitter  was  so  placed  in  the 
hall  of  the  hotel  that  he  occupied,  as  it  were,  a  seat 
among  the  shareholders,  to  the  back  and  to  the 
right-hand  side. 

Rows  of  plain  bentwood  chairs ;  a  long  reporters' 
table  covered  with  ink-splashed  green  baize;  above, 
the  platform  for  the  directors  with  the  raised  desk 
for  the  chairman  and  the  long  desk  on  either  side 
for  the  Board  in  general;  behind,  a  doorway  cur- 
tained in  dark  red  plush  and  a  large,  bold-figured 
clock. 

How  well  Warde  knew  the  scene!  Again  and 
again  had  Sir  Wilmer  and  himself  to  face  the  mu- 

262 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  263 

tinous  discontent  of  shareholders,  the  attacks  of 
financial  enemies,  and  the  instability  of  co-directors ; 
to  explain  away  the  scanty  dividend;  to  force  on 
the  common  mind  a  realization  of  what  the  future 
must  inevitably  bring. 

To-day,  it  was  to  be  a  very  different  order  of 
meeting.  The  shareholders  were  to  come  into  their 
own  with  overflowing  measure.  Two  splendid  bids 
for  the  property  were  theirs  to  choose  from.  They 
had  to  decide  to  whom  they  should  sell. 

The  directors'  platform  was  empty,  but  the  chairs 
below  were  filling  so  rapidly  that  the  meeting  prom- 
ised to  be  full  to  the  point  of  crowding.  Warde 
noted  that  the  table  for  the  reporters  had  been  ex- 
tended to  double  its  usual  length  in  order  to  accom- 
modate an  extra  attendance  of  pressmen. 

They  strolled  in  at  the  last  moment,  these  finan- 
cial pressmen,  blase  with  a  surfeit  of  company 
meetings,  weary  even  of  sensations.  A  couple  of 
young  sketch-writers  for  morning  papers,  alert  and 
vigorous,  hawking  around  for  picturesque  analogies 
to  incorporate  in  their  reports,  contrasted  markedly 
with  the  rutted  indifference  of  the  older  men. 

Warde  viewed  the  scene  as  on  the  focussing  plate 
of  a  camera,  with  the  exceptions  that  the  picture 
was  right  side  up  and  that  it  was  in  black  and  white 
instead  of  the  natural  colors. 

Others  besides  himself  were  watching  it  from  a 
distance.  The  Stock  Exchanges  of  London  and 
New  York  waited  eagerly  for  the  verdict  of  the 
meeting  and  strove  to  anticipate  it.  None  but  the 
directors  of  W.  Tels  could  be  certain  of  the  result 
of  the  voting.  To  outsiders,  calculating  shrewdly 


264  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

on  the  way  in  which  the  shares  were  held,  it  seemed 
a  toss-up  as  to  which  side  would  win  the  day.  The 
directors  were  keeping  a  cast-iron  reticence. 

The  buzz  of  whispering  among  the  sharehold- 
ers changed  to  a  stamping  of  feet  and  sticks  upon 
the  floor  as  the  hands  of  the  big  clock  at  the  back 
of  the  hall  glided  to  the  hour  of  three. 

The  Board  of  four,  the  secretary  and  the  com- 
pany lawyer  appeared  through  the  red-plush  cur- 
tains, and  moved  to  their  places. 

But  where  was  Hilary  Warde?  whispered  the 
shareholders. 

Thornton,  vice-chairman,  rose  from  his  seat  to 
explain.  "Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  he  began, 
"Mr.  Warde  is  unable  to  be  present  at  the  meeting. 
I  am  myself  acting  as  chairman,  but  as  a  mark  of 
respect  to  the  memory  of  Sir  Wilmer  Paradine, 
and  as  a  remark  of  respect  to  the  scientific  and  or- 
ganizing genius  of  Mr.  Warde — the  two  men  who 
have  built  up  this  splendid  present  position  of  our 
company — I  propose  to  leave  the  chairman's  seat 
empty." 

It  was  a  graceful  touch  from  that  hard,  iron-gray 
man,  and  the  shareholders  applauded  warmly. 

The  secretary  of  the  company  then  proceeded 
with  the  preliminary  routine,  hurrying  perfunctorily 
through  a  reading  of  the  last  minutes,  which  no- 
body cared  to  hear,  and  handed  the  minute-book  to 
Thornton  to  sign. 

"Is  there  any  objection  to  the  minutes?"  asked 
Thornton  according  to  routine.  "No?"  He 
signed  with  a  broad-penned  scrawl,  and  began  with 
the  real  business  of  the  meeting. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  265 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen,  you  have  had  posted  to 
you  copies  of  two  draft  agreements  awaiting  signa- 
ture by  your  Board.  The  one  is  from  an  American 
syndicate  headed  by  the  great  New  York  banking 
firm  of  Leishman,  Vandeventer  &  Co.  and  Mr. 
William  H.  Clough,  of  the  Consolidated  Steel  Cor- 
poration. I  need  scarcely  say  that  they  are  men 
of  unquestioned  probity  and  financial  stability.  The 
contract  they  offer  us  is  for  world-rights  in  wireless 
telephony.  From  the  holding  company  to  be 
formed  to  amalgamate  the  various  systems  of  long- 
distance communication,  we  should  receive  four 
million  pounds  in  Preferred  Stock  and  four  million 
pounds  in  Common  Stock.  Those  figures  are,  of 
course,  nominal  par  value.  Their  actual  value  to 
you  would  depend  on  the  future  of  the  big  holding 
company.  As  an  analogy,  I  refer  you  to  the  com- 
pany known  as  the  International  Mercantile  Marine, 
which  amalgamated  many  of  the  Atlantic  steamship 
lines.  Its  Preferred  Stock,  as  probably  you  know, 
may  be  many  years  still  in  attaining  to  par  value. 

"The  second  contract  is  offered  by  the  British 
Government.  They  will  guarantee  to  spend  five 
million  pounds  in  the  next  three  years  in  the  devel- 
opment of  our  wireless  system  over  the  whole  of 
the  British  Empire,  in  the  Mercantile  Marine  and  in 
the  Army  and  Navy.  The  actual  price  to  ourselves 
would  be  a  matter  of  arbitration.  It  would  un- 
doubtedly be  a  heavy  price,  sufficient  to  recompense 
you  abundantly  for  your  years  of  waiting,  but  I  am 
unable  to  forecast  any  definite  figure.  You  will 
have  formed  some  idea  of  it  from  the  comments  on 
the  matter  in  recent  newspapers.  In  addition,  you 


266  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

would  retain  a  substantial  interest  in  any  contracts 
which  the  British  Government,  at  their  discretion, 
might  enter  into  with  foreign  nations.  I  cannot  say 
that  such  contracts  will  be  made — it  would  be  a 
matter  to  be  decided  by  the  Committee  of  National 
Defense.  Before  throwing  the  question  open  to 
discussion,  I  will  call  upon  our  lawyer  to  put  before 
you  the  legal  aspect  of  the  matter." 

The  lawyer,  dry,  thin-lipped,  pince-nezed,  gave 
a  highly  technical,  highly  cautious  resume  of  the 
situation.  He  was  inclined  to  consider  that  the 
Government  held  the  whip  hand  in  the  matter.  If 
the  American  offer  were  to  be  accepted,  it  was  with- 
in the  bounds  of  legal  possibility  that  the  Post- 
master-General would  introduce  a  bill  to  prevent 
the  private  use  of  wireless  telephony  stations  within 
the  British  Empire.  No  legal  decision  had  as  yet 
been  tested  as  to  the  ownership  of  the  ether,  but 
judging  from  the  analogy  of  the  air,  the  Govern- 
ment might  claim  a  prima  facie  right  to  it  as  against 
private  individuals.  He  foresaw  the  matter  being 
brought  eventually  before  the  Hague  Tribunal ;  but 
— a  thin  smile  illumined  the  dry  features  of  the 
man  of  law — it  must  not  be  assumed  that  a  Great 
Power  would  necessarily  submit  to  the  judgment  of 
the  Tribunal  should  it  prove  adverse. 

The  question  was  then  discussed  by  the  share- 
holders in  general.  For  three  hours  man  after  man 
rose  to  voice  opinions  on  the  problem.  In  general, 
they  asked  for  a  definite  lead  from  the  Board,  and 
particularly  from  Mr.  Hilary  Warde.  Had  he  sent 
no  message  for  them? 

Thornton  rose  to  reply.      "Our  chairman,"  he 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  267 

said,  "is  heavily  interested  in  the  shares  of  the 
company.  It  is  probable  that  his  share-holding  vote 
would  determine  the  matter  to  one  side  or  other. 
But  he  has  decided  on  a  course  most  unusual  with 
a  company  director — and  if  I  may  be  allowed  to 
say  so,  a  most  honorable  course.  He  will  not  use 
his  votes." 

There  was  a  sudden  stampede  in  the  hall.  Men 
were  rushing  out  of  the  room  to  telephone  to  their 
brokers;  reporters  hurled  messages  to  uniformed 
boys,  who  raced  to  deliver  them  to  newspaper  of- 
fices. 

Thornton  resumed:  "Nor  will  the  Board  vote 
on  this  question.  It  is  left  to  yourselves.  The 
facts  are  in  your  possession.  You  have  the  choice 
between  a  larger  profit  from  the  American  syndi- 
cate, shaded  by  the  doubtful  legality  of  the  action 
and  the  possible  interference  of  the  Government,  or 
a  smaller  but  still  a  highly  satisfactory  profit  on  the 
second  offer.  I  will  now  take  the  voice  of  the 
meeting." 

A  poll  was  demanded ;  votes  were  scrutinized  and 
counted. 

In  a  tense  silence  Thornton  announced  the  re- 
sult: "18,628  for  the  acceptance  of  the  offer  of 
the  Government;  6,870  for  the  acceptance  of  the 
American  offer.  The  former  is  carried." 

Loud  cheering. 

As  it  subsided,  Cosway  rose,  trim  and  pleasant- 
spoken,  as  usual,  yet  with  a  note  of  sincerity  in  his 
voice  that  carried  through  the  conventionality  of  the 
motion  he  had  to  move. 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  he  said,  "the  honor  has 


£68  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

fallen  to  me  to  propose  the  vote  of  thanks  to  the 
man  who  has  given  his  whole  energies  of  mind  and 
body  to  the  work  of  your  company,  and  has  carried 
it  from  the  stage  of  laboratory  experiment  to  a  sys- 
tem which  is  deemed  essential  to  national  defense. 
We  who  have  worked  with  Mr.  Warde  on  the 
Board  of  the  company  know  him  as  no  person  out- 
side could  possibly  do;  we  have  learned  to  respect 
his  abilities  as  an  organizer  and  a  financier  as  well 
as  a  scientist;  we  have  the  deepest  admiration  for 
his  qualities  as  a  man.  He  has  fought  his  way 
through  opposition,  ridicule  and  venomous  abuse, 
and  has  made  it  possible  for  you  to  have  to-day  this 
choice  of  two  offers,  each  fulfilling  the  utmost  prom- 
ises held  out  to  you  in  the  past.  Let  us  vote  him 
our  heartiest  thanks  and  our  cordial  wishes  for  his 
personal  happiness  and  prosperity !" 

"Seconded !"  cried  a  dozen  voices  in  the  body  of 
the  hall,  and  as  Thornton  asked  for  the  vote,  Warde 
in  his  study-chair  could  see  the  whole  meeting  rise 
spontaneously  to  their  feet  and  hear  them  cheer 
again  and  again  to  his  name. 

It  was  the  culmination  of  the  nine  years'  travail. 
The  goal  he  had  set  himself  was  attained.  Further 
development  could  well  be  left  to  other  hands.  And 
the  shares  left  to  him  in  trust  by  Sir  Wilmer  Para- 
dine  were  now  released,  so  that  he  could  sell  them 
with  a  clear  conscience  and  use  the  money  in  any 
way  he  pleased.  He  was  rich  enough  now  to  give 
Eve  anything  she  might  set  her  heart  on,  even  to  a 
great  landed  estate.  Across  the  screen  of  his  mind 
there  flitted  a  score  of  plans  for  the  future,  with 
Eve  foremost  in  the  picture. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  269 

A  ring  of  the  wireless  telephone  cut  into  his 
reverie. 

"Mr.  Warde  ?"  asked  a  voice. 

"Yes." 

"New  York  to  speak  to  you." 

A  click  of  the  connecting  instrument,  and  Warde 
was  in  touch  with  the  city  three  thousand  miles 
distant.  On  the  oblong  of  the  receiving  screen  he 
could  now  see — though  somewhat  dimly — the  angry 
countenance  of  Michael  Riordan.  Six  months  of 
experiment  by  Warde's  scientific  staff  had  extended 
television  across  the  Atlantic. 

"The  dirtiest  trick  that  ever  was !"  accused  Rior- 
dan. "And,  by  God,  I'll  get  your  scalp  for  it! 
Playing  with  my  time  for  six  months  and  then 
turning  me  down  at  the  last  moment !  You  double- 
crosser !" 

"How  much  is  your  time  worth?"  demanded 
Warde. 

"More  than  you  would  ever  pay  for." 

"Let  us  put  it  as  worth  half  a  million  dollars  a 
year.  Would  that  be  right?" 

"I  might  have  made  a  million  over  this  deal !" 

"Well,  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars 
for  six  months'  work  is  no  bad  pay.  I'll  send 
you  my  personal  check  for  that  amount.  Post  it 
at  once." 

Warde  rang  off,  drew  a  sheet  of  writing-paper, 
and  composed  a  brief  note  to  Riordan,  stating  that 
he  was  enclosing  a  check  for  the  amount  agreed  on 
for  services  rendered.  He  was  proceeding  to  date  a 
check,  when  a  sudden  thought  of  Kerr-Dyce  in- 
truded itself.  He  must  arrange  an  interview  with 


270  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

the  politician  in  order  to  settle  on  the  date  of  the 
coming  arbitration. 

Taking  up  the  ordinary  telephone  on  his  desk,  he 
called  for  Kerr-Dyce's  private  number  at  the  House 
of  Commons. 

The  Government  telephone  service  was  notori- 
ously inefficient,  largely  owing  to  the  sweating  of 
operators  at  the  exchanges.  A  harassed  operator 
on  an  order  line,  with  too  many  switches  to  attend 
to,  plugged  Warde  into  a  "triple  connection." 

He  heard  Kerr-Dyce's  voice  speaking,  and  before 
he  could  explain  his  inadvertent  eavesdropping,  the 
voice  at  the  other  end  of  the  wire  answered  Kerr- 
Dyce. 

It  was  Eve. 

Rigid,  Warde  listened. 

"Yes,  I  could  manage  Sunday,"  Eve  was  saying. 

"Without  any  suspicion  ?" 

"Leave  that  to  me." 

"At  the  cottage?" 

"Yes."  Her  voice  became  very  tender.  "At 
our  cottage." 

"I'll  dream  of  Sunday!" 

"And  I." 

"Good-by,  my  dearest!" 

The  receiver  dropped  from  Warde' s  hand.  He 
saw  red.  He  could  have  taken  Kerr-Dyce  by  the 
throat  and  throttled  him  until  the  veins  of  the 
face  were  black  and  life  were  squeezed  out  of  him. 

Then,  in  a  sudden  reaction  of  feeling,  he  began 
to  doubt  what  he  had  heard.  His  ears  might  have 
played  him  a  trick.  Suppose  that  the  unseen 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  271 

speaker  was  not  Eve,  but  some  woman  with  a  sim- 
ilar voice? 

Yet  intuition,  gathering  together  a  score  of  tiny 
memories,  hammered  at  him  the  certainty  of  his 
wife's  infidelity. 

That  the  revelation  should  come  to  him  at  such 
a  moment,  at  the  culmination  of  his  career! 

Half  an  hour  later,  in  a  blur  of  vision,  hardly 
seeing  what  it  was  that  he  was  writing,  Warde 
completed  the  check  to  Riordan  for  "two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  full  payment  of  ser- 
vices rendered,"  and  rang  for  the  butler  to  post  the 
letter. 

"Is  anything  the  matter,  sir?"  inquired  the  butler 
solicitously  on  seeing  his  master's  haggard  face. 

"Nothing." 

"I  hope  the  company  meeting  went  off  as  you 
expected,  sir." 

"Quite,  thank  you." 

"Is  there  nothing  further  I  can  do  for  you  ?" 

"Nothing." 


BOOK  III.    PAYMENT 

CHAPTER   I 

BETRAYAL  OR  TEMPTATION? 

No  hurt  that  our  enemies  inflict  on  us  can  equal 
in  mental  shock  the  betrayal  of  trust  by  a  friend. 

Though  Warde  knew  of  other  women  in  his  large 
circle  of  society  acquaintances  whose  infidelity  was 
a  matter  of  common  report,  he  had  never  associated 
Eve  with  such  a  possibility.  He  had  relied  im- 
plicitly on  her  sense  of  honor.  Even  a  suspicion 
of  her  would  be  an  insult.  He  had  given  loyalty 
himself — in  spite  of  the  sexual  temptations  which 
come  to  every  man,  his  marriage  pledge  of  fidelity 
had  remained  unbroken  in  the  more  than  six  years 
of  married  life. 

Yet,  through  the  daze  of  the  revelation,  in  the 
reaction  from  the  surge  of  red  anger,  his  tempera- 
ment of  the  scientist  forced  him  to  consider  how 
far  the  blame  might  lie  with  Eve  and  how  far  with 
himself. 

Sitting  opposite  to  his  wife  at  dinner  that  eve- 
ning— a  silent  meal  broken  only  by  such  conversa- 
tion as  would  satisfy  the  conventions  in  the  presence 
of  the  servants — Hilary  studied  her  in  a  new  light. 

273 


274  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Her  beauty  struck  him  afresh,  as  though  he  had 
suddenly  come  upon  a  well-loved  scene  from  a  new 
angle  of  approach.  Beyond  that,  her  beauty  was  in 
some  subtle  way  heightened,  intensified,  as  with  a 
scene  in  the  sunlight  that  follows  the  cleansing  of 
a  storm.  Eve  was  destined  to  attract  a  circle  of 
admirers.  He  had  never  attempted  to  limit  her 
movements.  Had  he  been  too  lax — had  he  helped 
unconsciously  to  create  temptation  ? 

A  revulsion  of  feeling  in  his  welter  of  thoughts 
sent  anger  surging  through  him  again.  He  had 
given  implicit  trust — it  should  beget  loyalty.  Her 
perfect  freedom  of  action  should  have  been  in  itself 
a  guard.  Eve  had  not  had  the  excuse  of  a  jealous, 
suspicious  or  domineering  husband. 

Again  the  temperament  of  the  analyst  supervened. 
Was  what  he  had  overheard  by  telephone  a  betrayal, 
or  a  yielding  to  a  passing  temptation?  The  differ- 
ence was  vital.  Many  wives  condoned  in  their  hus- 
bands— or  closed  their  eyes  to — the  infidelity  of  the 
moment,  regarding  it  as  weakness  rather  than  dis- 
loyalty. Should  such  condonation  come  only  from 
one  side  in  marriage  ?  Had  women  no  similar  temp- 
tations ? 

The  infidelity  of  the  moment  is  not  infidelity  of 
heart.  It  is  more  a  breaking  of  bounds  under  the 
lure  of  adventure,  a  brief  rebellion  against  the 
monotony  of  the  routine  of  life.  If  this  case  of 
Eve  and  Kerr-Dyce  were  such  an  episode,  Warde 
might  control  himself  to  close  his  eyes  to  it,  and 
strive  to  guard  Eve  from  further  temptation  in  the 
future.  If  it  were  more  than  an  episode — a  be- 
trayal in  heart  as  well  as  in  body — but  he  could  not 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICF  275 

bring  himself  to  face  and  wrestle  with  the  possi- 
bility. 

His  thoughts  switched  to  Kerr-Dyce.  There  lay 
the  sting  of  the  revelation.  Kerr-Dyce,  the  man 
who  had  opposed  the  development  of  W.  Tels.  In 
essence,  an  enemy.  No  doubt  he  had  a  great  fas- 
cination for  women  who  would  be  mesmerized  by 
a  clever  spinner  of  words.  In  very  human  jealousy, 
Warde  wondered  at  Eve's  lapse  of  taste  in  allowing 
herself  to  be  led  away  by  such  a  man — a  line  of 
thought  of  immemorial  age.  The  love-choice  of 
man  or  woman  is  always  a  matter  of  scornful  won- 
der to  the  rival. 

"You  seem  very  absorbed.  More  wireless 
schemes?"  suggested  Eve. 

How  shallow  is  the  power  of  mind-reading,  even 
between  those  who  have  lived  together  for  years! 

"No,"  answered  Hilary.  "To-day  is  the  final 
chapter." 

"Any  plan  for  the  week-end  ?" 

"No." 

"I  shall  be  going  to  Beechhurst." 

"As  you  please." 

Did  it  mean  that  Eve  had  reconsidered  her  prom- 
ise to  Kerr-Dyce?  That  infidelity  had  stopped  at 
thought?  Yet  this  latter  distinction  had  no  essen- 
tial reality.  It  did  not  matter  whether  she  had 
already  surrendered  herself  to  Kerr-Dyce  or  not. 
The  difference  that  mattered  was  passing  tempta- 
tion or  definite  breach — whether  or  not  Eve  would 
return  to  her  husband.  The  suggestion  of  staying 
at  Beechhurst  for  the  week-end  might  mean  an  in- 
direct return. 


276  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

One  fact  of  the  case  brought  to  Warde's  mind  a 
soothing  touch :  Eve  had  not  tried  to  blind  his 
eyes  by  caresses  while  her  thoughts  were  with  an- 
other man.  She  had  not  played  the  Delilah.  For 
four  months  past  the  relationship  of  husband  and 
wife  had  been  limited  to  living  under  the  same  roof. 

He  remembered  that  Eve  as  a  girl  had  always 
hated  the  underhand  action.  As  a  woman  of 
twenty-seven,  that  trait  persisted.  Suppose  that  she 
had  already  repented  of  the  indiscretion,  and  had 
resolved  to  spend  this  coming  Sunday  with  Lady 
Merenthorpe  instead  of  at  "the  cottage"  with  Kerr- 
Dyce  ?  It  might  be  the  psychological  turning-point 
in  her  feelings  toward  the  two  men — husband  and 
lover.  If  Warde  left  her  free  to  plan  her  own  move- 
ments during  the  week-end,  it  might  possibly  be  the 
very  wisest  course  he  could  pursue. 

Himself,  he  knew,  would  be  no  welcome  guest  at 
Beechhurst.  Lord  and  Lady  Merenthorpe  had 
never  forgiven  him  for  stealing  their  daughter  away 
from  Esk.  Warde  always  avoided  meeting  them 
except  on  the  most  formal  occasions,  nor  had  he 
ever  set  foot  in  the  grounds  of  Beechhurst  since 
that  summer  of  nearly  seven  years  back. 

"You'll  take  the  car?"  he  asked. 

"No — I'll  go  by  train.  You  can  have  the  car. 
Why  don't  you  golf  somewhere?" 

"I'll  see  if  I  can  fix  up  a  match  at  Littlestone." 

Was  this  suggestion  intended  to  have  his  move- 
ments accounted  for  during  the  week-end  ?  Doubts 
of  her  again  surged  over  him. 

Presently  Eve  asked:  "When  will  Miss  Gleni- 
stair  be  back  in  England?" 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  277 

"It's  uncertain.  She's  now  at  Bellagio,  and  prob- 
ably will  remain  on  the  lakes  until  English  spring 
is  out  of  blankets." 

"Beechhurst  always  reminds  me  of  her." 

Into  those  casual  words  Warde  read  a  whole 
revelation  of  meaning.  A  thought  of  Miss  Gleni- 
stair  could  only  be  associated  with  the  highest  and 
finest  feelings.  Perhaps  from  distant  Italy  her  in- 
fluence was  throwing  a  protective  wing  over  Eve. 
Decidedly  it  would  be  best  to  give  Eve  perfect  free- 
dom this  coming  Sunday,  so  that  she  might  settle 
her  feelings  toward  Kerr-Dyce  and  toward  her  hus- 
band. If  material  inducements  would  turn  the  scale 
in  her  mind — and  he  remembered  as  a  girl  Eve  had 
always  been  frankly  appreciative  of  the  material 
aspects  of  life — it  would  be  well  to  put  them  clearly 
forward. 

Therefore  he  mentioned :  "I'm  going  to  sell  out 
my  holdings  in  W.  Tels.  The  trust  money  is  re- 
leased now — we  can  do  what  we  like  with  it." 

"What  will  it  realize?"  asked  Eve  without  any 
special  show  of  interest. 

"Between  three  hundred  and  three  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand.  I  thought  of  buying  a  country 
estate." 

"The  children  would  like  it." 

"And  you?" 

"I  haven't  thought  it  out." 

"Excuse  me  a  moment."  Warde  rose  and 
brought  over  from  a  side-table  a  copy  of  "Country 
Life."  He  turned  over  the  advertisement  pages  and 
showed  an  illustration  of  a  fine  property  for  sale 
in  Sussex. 


278  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"How  would  that  suit  you?  Or  there  are  dozens 
of  others  you  could  choose  from.  With  three  hun- 
dred thousand  in  cash,  we  can  do  a  great  deal.  Be- 
sides, under  the  contract  I  shall  have  an  advisory, 
post  with  the  Government  at  five  thousand  a  year." 

"Hasn't  the  contract  to  be  ratified  by  Parlia- 
ment?" 

"There's  no  reason  why  it  should  not  pass.  They 
will  get  our  property  more  cheaply  than  they  de- 
serve to.  If  I  had  voted  to  selling  to  Riordan's 
syndicate,  I  should  be  worth  at  least  half  a  million, 
with  substantial  prospects  in  addition." 

"Let's  drop  business  matters." 

"I  want  to.  They've  done  enough  damage  al- 
ready." 

"How  do  you  mean?" 

"They've  stood  between  you  and  me.  They've 
absorbed  the  time  I  should  have  given  to  you.  I've 
been  an  instrument  of  the  Driver." 

Eve  turned  to  a  dish  of  early  strawberries,  and 
let  the  subject  lapse. 

He  tried  again  to  fathom  her  mind.  Outwardly 
she  was  calm,  self-possessed,  untroubled.  But  what 
storm  of  feeling  might  not  be  raging  behind  that 
wall  of  self-possession?  A  promise  to  Kerr-Dyce  to 
meet  him  at  "the  cottage" ;  an  intention  expressed  to 
Warde  to  spend  Sunday  with  Lady  Merenthorpe — 
which  was  her  real  decision  ? 

Or  perhaps  the  decision  lay  still  in  the  balance. 
Warde  could  do  no  more.  He  had  thrust  aside 
any  distinction  between  the  infidelity  which  was 
mental  and  the  infidelity  which  was  physical.  He 
had  resolved  to  condone  either  if  Eve  would  only 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  279 

return  to  him  and  give  him  her  whole  love  once 
again,  as  in  the  early  years  of  marriage. 

He  could  not  force  her  love — he  could  only  wait 
and  hope. 


CHAPTER   II 

EVE'S  DECISION 

On  the  following  day,  Saturday,  Warde  motored 
with  Cosway  to  the  golfing  hotel  at  Littlestone,  on 
the  edge  of  the  Romney  Marshes.  Cosway  was  a 
weak  edition  of  a  14  handicap  man  on  the  links,  but 
in  his  present  anxiety  of  mind  Warde  had  no  wish 
for  a  crack  opponent.  All  he  needed  was  someone 
whose  companionship  was  sympathetic,  and  with 
whom  there  would  be  no  call  for  the  strain  of  forced 
conversation. 

April  was  in  a  kindly  mood;  the  gentle  links  in 
perfect  condition;  the  sea-breeze  sturdily  invigorat- 
ing. The  afternoon  passed  pleasantly ;  after  dinner 
they  smoked  a  pipe  or  two  and  turned  in  early. 

Incidentally,  Cosway  mentioned  the  subject  of 
Riordan. 

"He'll  cut  up  rough,  I  expect." 

"He  has,"  returned  Warde.  "He  slanged  me 
by  wireless  on  the  afternoon  of  the  company  meet- 
ing." 

"What  did  you  say?" 

"I  settled  it  on  the  usual  basis — money.  Posted 
him  a  check  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars." 

"I  imagine  that  won't  satisfy  him  completely." 
280 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  881 

"What  can  he  do?" 

Cosway  shrugged  slightly.  It  was  a  business  af- 
fair— there  was  no  sympathy  to  be  wasted  over  the 
disappointed. 

"Don't  let  him  trick  you  into  any  share  deal,"  he 
suggested  in  casual  warning. 

"No — I  shall  clear  out  of  W.  Tels  and  invest  in 
gilt-edged  securities.  Want  any  of  my  shares?" 

They  settled  amicably  for  the  transfer  of  a  small 
block  of  stock. 

"I  want  to  thank  you  for  that  speech  you  made 
in  moving  the  vote  of  thanks  to  me,"  said  Warde. 

"I  meant  it!"  answered  Cosway  with  unusual 
feeling. 

On  the  Sunday  morning,  April  had  turned  petu- 
lant. Clouds  and  sun  played  hide-and-seek;  by 
lunch-time  a  miniature  gale  was  lashing  in  from 
the  southwest,  and  further  play  became  impossible. 
After  lounging  in  the  smoke-room  for  an  hour  or 
two,  Warde  suggested  returning  to  town. 

While  passing  through  Headcorn,  a  sudden 
thought  occurred  to  Warde. 

"If  you  don't  mind,  we'll  cut  across  to  Maidstone 
and  pick  up  my  wife.  She's  staying  with  her  people 
at  Beechhurst." 

"Certainly,"  agreed  Cosway. 

Beechhurst,  never  a  cheerful  house  in  its  cold 
Jacobean  stateliness,  looked  mournful  under  the 
lash  of  rain  and  the  soughing  of  the  wind.  They 
drove  up  the  carriageway  to  the  door  of  the  man- 
sion, and  Warde  asked  the  footman  to  tell  Mrs. 
Warde  that  he  was  here  and  could  drive  her  back 
to  town  if  she  wished. 


282 EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"Mrs.  Warde  left  this  morning,  sir,"  returned 
the  footman. 

"Early?" 

"About  eleven  o'clock,  sir." 

"There's  no  pleasure  in  staying  in  the  country 
this  weather,"  remarked  Warde  to  Cosway  in  a 
casual  tone,  though  in  his  heart  a  foreboding  was 
taking  black  shape.  Would  he  find  Eve  awaiting 
him  at  home,  or ? 

Dropping  Cosway  at  Beckenham,  Warde  drove 
on  to  Cadogan  Square.  Eve  was  not  at  the  house, 
nor  had  any  message  arrived  for  him. 

Though  the  lines  of  anxiety  were  deepening  on 
his  features,  he  tried  to  reassure  himself.  Eve 
might  have  gone  to  call  on  any  one  of  a  score  of 
friends,  and  in  that  case  there  would  be  no  reason 
why  she  should  send  a  message.  By  dinner-time 
she  would  return,  and  his  fears  would  have  proved 
baseless.  Meanwhile,  he  went  up  to  the  nursery, 
and  found  his  little  daughters  at  tea. 

It  brought  to  him  a  poignant  realization  of  his 
"home,"  that  neither  Betty  nor  Mona  asked  for 
"Mummy." 

He  could  not  keep  his  thoughts  away  from  the 
cottage  of  which  Kerr-Dyce  had  spoken.  Where 
was  it?  In  the  outskirts  of  London,  perhaps,  in  a 
quiet  suburb  of  gardens  and  discreet  little  houses1 
with  long  sloping  roofs  in  bright  red  tiles  and  dor- 
mer windows  and  ingle-nooks;  or  it  might  be  an 
old-world  cottage  anywhere  within  a  hundred  miles 
of  London.  A  sudden  burst  of  angry  thought  sent 
him  to  his  wife's  bedroom  to  search  for  some  clue, 
so  that  he  might  drive  furiously  to  "the  cottage"  and 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  283 

learn  the  worst  without  further  racking  of  mind. 
But  in  the  doorway  he  paused.  He  had  no  right 
to  be  there  without  Eve's  permission.  It  was  an 
insult  to  her  to  suspect  the  worst  on  the  slender 
basis  of  her  leaving  Beechhurst  in  the  morning. 

Dinner  was  a  solitary,  bitter  meal.  The  copy  of 
"Country  Life"  thrown  aside  on  a  corner  table 
mocked  at  him.  What  use  was  it  now  to  be  able 
to  buy  a  country  estate  if  he  had  lost  Eve?  Every 
hour  made  the  situation  more  open  to  suspicion, 
and  yet  there  was  no  action  possible  to  him.  He 
could  only  wait. 

Toward  eleven  o'clock  he  heard  sounds  in  the 
hall.  Eve  was  back,  throwing  off  her  wraps. 

"I've  just  returned,"  she  remarked. 

"From  Beechhurst?" 

"Yes." 

"I  have  something  to  discuss  with  you." 

"The  train  was  slow  and  tiring.  I  want  to  get 
to  bed.  Let's  leave  your  discussion  till  the  morn- 
ing." 

"I  prefer  to-night." 

"Then  come  to  my  room  in  half  an  hour's  time, 
when  Elise  has  finished  with  me." 

In  half  an  hour  he  was  knocking  at  the  door  of 
her  bedroom.  The  maid  opened  it  to  him  and  then 
left  the  room.  Eve,  in  a  negligee  of  creamy  lace 
and  bare  feet  in  dull  red  morocco  slippers,  was 
seated  at  the  dressing-table,  giving  the  last  night- 
touches  to  her  hair,  superb  in  its  shimmering  tex- 
ture. 

Their  eyes  met  in  the  looking-glass.  Hilary  was 
gray  and  drawn.  A  sudden  quiver  of  her  lace- 


284  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

covered  shoulders  was  like  a  breath  of  wind  in  the 
leaves  of  an  aspen. 

"Where  have  you  been  to-day?"  he  demanded. 

"At  Beechhurst." 

"You  left  there  this  morning." 

"So  you've  been  spying  on  my  movements?"  she 
challenged,  turning  in  her  chair  to  face  him  directly. 

"I  had  good  reason  to." 

"Why?" 

"You  made  an  appointment  with  Kerr-Dyce  for 
to-day." 

"Who  told  you  that?" 

"I  heard  you  speaking  to  him  over  the  'phone 
on  Friday." 

Eve  hesitated  for  a  moment,  as  one  on  the  brink 
of  a  plunge  into  cold  waters. 

"I'm  glad  you  know,"  she  said  with  a  release  of 
breath  like  one  who  has  made  the  plunge  and  come 
up  to  the  surface  of  the  water. 

"I  said  nothing  to  you  because  I  thought  that 
you  might  be  reconsidering  your  promise  to  Kerr- 
Dyce.  So  I  left  you  free  to-day.  I  was  hoping 
"  A  huskiness  in  his  throat  choked  the  re- 
mainder of  his  words. 

"I'm  glad  you  know,"  she  repeated  with  self- 
possession,  though  color  had  flooded  her  cheeks. 
"I  loathe  the  underhand." 

Hilary,  mastering  his  voice,  resumed  the  inter- 
rupted train  of  thought:  "I  don't  want  you  to 
misunderstand  me.  For  Heaven's  sake  let's  avoid 
misunderstandings !  I'll  try  to  put  my  feelings  into 
as  plain  words  as  possible.  I  knew  on  Friday, 
from  that  telephone  conversation,  that  this  was  not 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  285 

your  first  meeting  with  Kerr-Dyce.  I  felt  that  your 
intimacy  with  him  had  gone  to  the  length  that  most 
people  call  'unforgivable.'  But  I  was  ready  to  close 
my  eyes  to  it,  and — oh,  Eve,  I  mean  every  word  of 
this ! — I  am  ready  to  close  my  eyes  to  it  still.  I've 
been  as  much  to  blame  as  you.  I've  neglected  you ; 
I've  laid  the  way  open  for  temptation.  But  I  love 
you  still,  and  if  you'll  only  tell  me  that  it  was  a  pass- 
ing temptation,  if  you'll  only  promise  to  break  indefi- 
nitely and  finally  with  Kerr-Dyce,  I'll  treat  the  mat- 
ter as  some  ugly  nightmare.  Shut  down  my  mind 
on  it;  take  up  our  life  together  afresh.  I  mean  it, 
Eve — you  must  realize  that  I  mean  it !  I'm  not  of- 
fering forgiveness — I'm  asking  for  forgiveness,  and 
I'm  begging  you  to  return  to  me!" 

"You're  a  good  fellow,  Hilary,"  said  Eve  softly. 
His  words  had  touched  her,  though  they  could  not 
break  into  her  resolution.  "I've  felt  ashamed  of 
deceiving  you.  But  I  can't  come  back." 

"Why  not?  No  one  need  know.  They'll  never 
know  through  me.  And  Kerr-Dyce,  blackguard 
though  he  is,  won't  speak,  for  the  sake  of  his  own 
reputation." 

"You  said,  let's  avoid  misunderstandings.  I 
want  to  talk  to  you  as  I've  never  talked  before. 
Please  sit  down." 

He  found  a  chair  and  obeyed. 

Eve  resumed :  "You  thought  that  this  was  just 
an  indiscretion — a  sudden  temptation.  It  isn't.  He 
is  not  to  blame.  I  knew  when  I  met  him  at  Lou- 
vaulx  last  August  that  he  was  the  one  man  in  the 
world  for  me.  I've  gone  through  the  struggle 
against  myself.  I've  gone  through  with  it,  and  I 


286  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

know  that  what's  happened  has  been  inevitable. 
I'm  not  the  girl  of  twenty-one  you  married.  I've 
changed  since  then.  You  must  realize  that.  Life  is 
flux.  You  have  also  changed." 

"But  I  love  you  still!"  he  protested  passionately. 
"What  bigger  proof  could  I  give  you  than  to  say 
that  I'm  ready  to  close  my  eyes  to  what's  hap- 
pened ?" 

"I  know.  That's  why  I  feel  mean  and  contempti- 
ble. Don't  think  that  I  gave  myself  up  lightly. 
I'm  not  that  kind  of  woman.  This  love  will  en- 
dure." 

"Come  away  with  me  for  six  months  and  test 
it!" 

Eve  shook  her  head  slowly. 

"It's  the  consequence  of  my  neglecting  you,"  he 
urged.  "Six  months  will  sponge  it  out." 

"No — it's  more  than  that.  Perhaps  that  laid  the 
ground,  but  the  matter  goes  deeper.  You  have 
changed.  You  are  not  the  man  I  married.  Or  I 
don't  see  you  with  the  same  eyes  as  I  did  at  twenty- 
one.  Little  things — mannerisms,  tricks  of  habit — 
jar  on  me,  until  I  have  to  force  myself  to  endure 
them  without  open  quarreling. 

"Little  things!"  he  repeated  scornfully. 

"They  are  what  matter  most  to  a  woman.  The 
root-trouble  is  this,  Hilary:  that  I  don't  care  for 
you  any  longer.  You  must  have  known  that  at 
Christmas,  when  I  told  you  that  our  relationship  of. 
husband  and  wife  must  be  nominal." 

"I've  tried  all  I  know  to  please  you.  This  idea 
of  a  country  estate — it  was  to  give  you  a  county 
position." 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  287 

"I  know  you've  tried.  But  I  can't  command 
my  feelings.  I  can't  love  you  to  order.  I  admired 
you — in  a  way.  You  have  made  the  career  you 
said  you  would.  I  forced  myself  to  be  interested 
in  it,  but  it  gradually  bored  me,  until  finally  I  came 
to  loathe  the  word  'business.'  I've  longed  to  be 
free  from  it — and  since  Louvaulx" — her  voice  low- 
ered— "I've  longed  to  be  free  from  you." 

He  winced. 

"Yes,  it's  a  brutal  thing  to  say,"  continued  Eve, 
"but  it's  true.  I'm  laying  my  heart  open  to  you,  so 
that  there  may  be  no  misunderstanding.  I  don't 
want  your  forgiveness,  and  I  don't  want  to  forgive 
you.  That's  not  my  feeling.  I've  felt — shackled. 
Tied  to  a  man  I  no  longer  care  for.  It's  no  use  to 
speak  to  me  of  marriage  vows.  How  can  a  girl  of 
twenty-one  promise  that  for  the  rest  of  her  life  she 
will  love  only  the  man  she  sees  in  the  glamour  of 
the  engagement?" 

"Other  women  keep  to  their  marriage  vows." 

"Most  women  do,  I  expect,  in  the  letter.  In  the 
spirit,  I  should  say  that  not  more  than  one  woman 
in  twenty  does.  And  that's  perhaps  because  she  has 
never  afterwards  met  the  right  man.  I  have.  I 
tell  you  it  frankly.  There's  no  shadow  of  a  doubt  in 
my  mind." 

"Kerr-Dyce!"  exclaimed  Hilary  in  a  tone  that 
summed  up  all  his  scorn  of  the  man. 

"Naturally  you  don't  see  him  as  I  do." 

"Glamour  again!" 

"A  woman  of  twenty-seven  who  has  moved  about 
in  society  has  few  illusions  left." 


288  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"You  admit  that  other  women  manage  to  sup- 
press their  inclinations?" 

"My  temperament  must  be  different  to  the  ma- 
jority. I've  struggled  with  myself.  I  tell  you  that 
I've  fought  with  myself !  I've  called  myself  mean, 
contemptible,  underhand,  an  ingrate.  I've  tried  to 
blow  into  flame  my  old  love  for  you.  You  must 
have  noticed  that." 

"Yes,"  he  admitted  sadly. 

"I've  tried  and  failed.  I  can't  command  my  feel- 
ings." 

"Let  us  separate  for  six  months." 

"I  should  go  to  him." 

"It  would  come  to  an  open  scandal.  That  kind 
of  thing  can't  remain  hidden  for  long.  Already 
perhaps,  people  may  be  suspecting " 

Eve  nodded  slowly.  "I  am  prepared  to  face 
that." 

"Would  he  be  ?  A  politician's  reputation  is  very 
precious  to  him.  At  the  first  breath  of  open  scan- 
dal, Kerr-Dyce  would  bolt  to  cover." 

Hilary  could  not  keep  out  of  his  voice  his  scorn 
of  the  man. 

"You  misjudge  him,"  she  answered.  "If  neces- 
sary, he  would  throw  up  his  career  for  me.  And 
that  is  more  than  you  could  ever  have  done." 

"I  doubt  if  he  would.  In  fact,  I'm  sure  he 
wouldn't." 

"Then  test  him,"  challenged  Eve  in  defense  of 
her  lover. 

"I  shall." 

"Do  so  to-morrow." 

"To-night!" 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  289 

"He  is  not  in  town." 

"At  'the  cottage'?    Where  is  it?" 

"That's  our  secret." 

"Tell  me!"  he  demanded  roughly,  rising  as 
though  he  would  force  an  answer  to  his  question. 

"Don't  be  brutal!" 

"You're  driving  me  mad!" 

"Think  over  to-night  what  I've  told  you,  and  in 
the  morning  you  will  see  matters  clearer." 

"Have  you  no  regard  for  your  children?" 

"I  have  to  think  of  myself  first.  I'm  twenty- 
seven,  with  the  greater  part  of  my  life  in  front  of 
me.  They  are  so  young  that  they  will  forget  me. 
Already  you  are  more  to  them  than  myself.  After 
the  divorce,  you  will  take  charge  of  them  and  bring 
them  up  better  than  I  should." 

"There  will  be  no  divorce.  I'm  not  going  to  let 
Kerr-Dyce  have  an  easy  victory  like  that." 

"  'Victory' !  Am  I  something  to  be  fought  over  ?" 
she  protested. 

"Do  you  expect  me  to  take  this  matter  calmly? 
I  was  ready  to  forgive  or  ask  forgiveness,  but  I 
don't  intend  to  sit  down  quietly  and  let  Kerr-Dyce 
laugh  at  my  humble  obedience.  Do  you  think  that 
/  have  no  feelings  as  well  as  yourself?  That  I'm 
not  human  flesh  and  blood  ?"  Then,  in  a  reaction  of 
feeling,  his  voice  broke  to  pleading:  "Come  back 
to  me,  Eve — come  back  to  me!" 

"I  can't.    I've  not  given  myself  lightly." 

"I'm  asking  for  very  little — only  that  you  should 
break  with  Kerr-Dyce  and  travel  by  yourself  for  six 
months.  At  the  end  of  that  time  we  could  talk 
frankly  again  and  reconsider  the  decision.  Six 


290  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

months  before  you  make  an  irrevocable  step  and 
brand  yourself  for  life  in  the  eyes  of  every  man  and 
woman.  It's  little  to  ask!" 

"That  little  is  too  much  to  ask.  I  can't  live 
without  him." 

"Then  I  must  remove  temptation!"  he  declared 
in  a  burst  of  passionate  resentment  at  Kerr-Dyce. 

Eve  started  from  her  chair  in  terror.  "You 
mean ?" 

"I  mean  just  that." 

"You  must  be  out  of  your  senses !" 

"I  may  be.  Am  I  to  sit  down  cold-bloodedly  and 
reason  this  out  like  a  mathematical  problem  ?  No — 
there's  been  a  man's  way  of  settling  such  questions 
since  the  world  began.  We  can  go  to  some  quiet 
sands  on  the  Belgian  coast  and  decide  whether  he  or 
I  is  the  better  man."  His  hands  trembled  with  the 
throbbing  of  the  blood  in  his  arteries. 

"You're  just  a  brutal  savage  in  this  mood!  Do 
you  imagine  it  would  make  me  care  for  you  to 
know  that  you  had  killed  the  man  who  is  more  to 
me  than  anyone  else  in  the  world?" 

"I'm  past  listening  to  cold  reasons !  The  man's  a 
blackguard,  and  that's  all  I  see." 

"He  is  the  man  I  love — a  man  who  would  sacrifice 
his  career  to  me.  If  you  persist  in  this  mad  idea, 
the  moment  I  heard  you  had  killed  him — even  in 
fair  fight,  as  you  would  probably  term.it — I  should 
take  poison !"  Her  voice  quivered  with  the  intensity 
of  her  feeling. 

Hilary  stumbled  to  the  couch,  and  buried  his  face 
in  his  hands. 

"You're  breaking  me!"  he  murmured  huskily. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  291 

Eve  came  to  him  and  laid  a  hand  on  his  shoulder. 

"Don't  take  it  so  hardly.  You  will  find  some 
other  woman  to  love  you.  Someone  more  in  sym- 
pathy with  your  aims  than  I  can  ever  be.  Someone 
who  will  be  a  better  mother  to  the  children.  Leave 
me  to  go  my  own  way.  You've  often  spoken  of 
yourself  as  the  instrument  of  a  Driver.  So  am  I. 
The  driving  power  is  not  the  same,  but  it  is  the 
same  feeling;  something  outside  myself." 

"I  must  see  Kerr-Dyce." 

"Promise  me  that  you  will  not  lose  control  of 
yourself  and  do  anything  violent  It  couldn't  pos- 
sibly help  you;  and  it  would  kill  me." 

"I  will  make  no  promises."  Throwing  off  her 
hand,  he  rose  unsteadily  and  went  to  the  door,  lurch- 
ing as  though  he  had  been  under  the  influence  of 
drink. 

"I  love  you  still !"  he  exclaimed  brokenly,  and  left 
her  without  further  word. 

Then  Eve's  self-control  left  her,  and  throwing 
herself  on  the  bed,  she  sobbed  hysterically  into  the 
pillows. 


CHAPTER   III 

OVERSTRAINED  NERVES 

"Just  a  brutal  savage."  That  phrase  of  Eve's 
eddied  and  reverberated  in  Warde's  thoughts 
throughout  a  night  of  fiery  sleeplessness.  With  the 
portion  of  his  mind  trained  to  the  cool  exactitude  of 
scientific  observation,  he  realized  that  he  was  in  an 
abnormal  state.  Toward  morning,  he  could  feel  his 
hand  or  his  foot,  or  whatever  part  of  himself  his 
mind  momentarily  dwelt  on,  swell  to  a  giantesque 
grossness,  and  in  the  next  instant  shrivel  to  a  mi- 
nute, ridiculous  dwarfishness.  The  phenomenon, 
purely  a  delusion  of  the  senses,  interested  him  from 
a  detached,  outside  point  of  view,  as  though  he  were 
a  student  in  a  hospital  ward.  He  began  to  analyse 
sensations ;  he  went  so  far  as  to  reach  for  the  watch 
by  his  bedside  and  time  the  duration  of  the  swell  and 
shrivel.  The  intentness  of  observing  killed  the 
curious  delusion,  but  it  left  him  with  a  new  train  of 
thought;  if  his  nerves  were  playing  such  tricks  with 
his  bodily  sensations,  they  must  also  be  swelling  and 
shriveling  his  mental  processes.  He  could  no  longer 
trust  his  judgment.  His  mind  was  thrown  out  of 
gear  as  wireless  telephony  during  a  violent  electric 
storm.  Its  conclusions  were,  for  the  moment, 
worthless. 

292 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  393 

And  by  that  strange  course  of  reasoning — one 
portion  of  mind  sitting  in  judgment  on  the  other 
portions — he  thrust  thought  aside  and  sank  into  a 
deadening,  dreamless  sleep  which  lasted  till  mid- 
day. 

Dressing  and  shaving  with  more  than  usual  care, 
as  an  exercise  in  self-control,  he  went  downstairs  to 
find  Eve  very  evidently  awaiting  him.  She,  too, 
had  gone  through  a  night  of  feverish  thought — it 
was  apparent  in  her  features. 

"You  can't  meet  to-day,"  was  Eve's  first  remark. 
"I've  'phoned  to  him  to  go  away  to  the  country." 

"I  don't  intend  to  see  Kerr-Dyce  to-day,"  re- 
turned Warde,  holding  out  his  hand  and  surveying 
it  with  a  remembrance  of  the  sense-delusions  of  the 
night.  "Nor  this  week." 

Eve  looked  startled  at  the  change  of  attitude, 
fearing  some  new  and  terrible  development. 

"He  will  be  quite  safe  in  town,"  pursued  Warde 
with  an  undercurrent  of  scorn  in  his  voice  that  sent 
the  blood  flushing  into  Eve's  cheeks.  "I  will  not 
see  him  till  next  Monday.  Nor  shall  you  either. 
Let  that  be  clearly  understood.  If  I  can  control 
my  passions  for  a  week,  so  can  you.  I  want  your 
promise." 

Eve,  shrinking  under  the  determination  of  his 
words,  gave  the  required  promise,  but  asked: 
"What's  in  your  mind  ?" 

He  pressed  the  bell  to  summon  the  butler,  and 
answered :  "Simply  this :  we  are  both  of  us  in  an 
abnormal  state  of  feeling.  Kerr-Dyce  also,  I  expect. 
I  can't  trust  myself  to  see  him  yet  awhile.  I  should 
probably  choke  the  life  out  of  him.  Just  now,  I 


294.  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

can't  master  the  brute  savage  in  me.  I'm  going 
away  for  a  week,  to  clear  my  thoughts  and  get  back 
my  self-control.  I  advise  you  to  do  the  same." 

"Where  are  you  going?" 

"To  the  Continent." 

"And  your  address,  if  it  should  be  necessary  to 
send  a  message?" 

"I  want  no  messages.    I  shall  return  on  Sunday." 

Then  to  the  butler,  entering  in  response  to  the 
bell :  "Pack  my  bag  for  a  week." 


Warde  bought  anodynes — sulphonal  for  the  night 
thoughts,  the  lightest  of  novels  to  kill  day  thoughts 
— and  took  the  evening  boat-train  to  the  Continent 
via  Dover-Calais. 

In  the  flush  of  dawn,  the  Basle  express  was  run- 
ning through  the  vast  homely  plains  of  the  district 
around  Laon  and  Rheims.  Warde's  companion  in 
the  coupe — a  heavy  built  colonel — snored  stertor- 
ously  in  the  berth  below.  A  golf -bag  in  the  rack 
defined  his  future  activity  in  Switzerland.  Mur- 
murs in  his  sleep  gave  the  trend  of  his  thoughts: 
"Carry  bunker  with  the  second  .  .  .  damnation 
.  .  .  niblick  .  .  .  blast  that  bunker  .  .  .  damned 
unfair  .  .  ." 

To  every  man  his  troubles. 

Later  in  the  morning,  in  a  smoking  compartment, 
they  chatted  on  the  neutral  subject  of  the  links. 
Warde  was  glad  of  any  conversation  which  would 
take  his  mind  from  dwelling  on  the  problem  of  Eve, 
until  he  had  seen  Miss  Glenistair.  That  was  his 
object  in  traveling  to  the  Continent.  The  time  had 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  295 

come  to  confide  in  her.  She  alone  could  advise 
him. 

The  colonel  proved  an  anodyne,  till,  unaware  that 
his  fellow-traveler  was  Hilary  Warde,  he  brought  up 
the  subject  of  the  Government  contract  with  W. 
Tels.  A  staunch  Conservative,  he  saw  in  the  trans- 
action some  discreditable  maneuver  on  the  part  of 
the  Liberals.  No  doubt  they  had  bought  shares  in 
W.  Tels,  or  had  been  bribed  by  that  scoundrel 
Warde  to  press  their  questions  on  the  Government 
so  that  a  contract  would  be  forced  to  the  surface. 

Warde  passed  over  his  card. 

"I  apologize,  of  course,"  said  the  colonel  stiffly, 
meaning  that  he  was  still  of  the  same  opinion. 

Warde  felt  a  sudden  mad  desire  to  pour  out  the 
whole  history  of  wireless  telephony  and  the  securing 
of  the  final  contract,  to  hammer  home  in  the  mind  of 
this  skeptic  the  essential  bona  fides  of  himself  and 
his  company.  The  next  instant,  he  recognized  it  as 
another  manifestation  of  his  overstrained  nerves. 
Withdrawing  to  a  distant  compartment,  he  tried  to 
escape  from  himself  into  the  realm  of  a  novel. 
Here  he  found  better  success.  The  author  could 
create  atmospheres  and  personalities,  and  invest 
them  with  a  certain  charm  of  unreality  that  seemed 
reality.  Warde  surrendered  himself;  let  his  mind 
be  played  upon ;  became  absorbed  in  the  fortunes  of 
the  characters. 

He  did  not  hasten  the  journey.  That  night  he 
rested  at  Lucerne,  with  the  rhythmic  clash  of  the 
train  journey  still  running  as  an  undercurrent  of  his 
consciousness  and  acting  as  a  sedative.  He  slept 
well,  and  awoke  freshened  in  mind.  A  bath  in 


296  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

the  lake,  icy-cold,  helped  to  brace  him  toward  nor- 
mality. 

A  sudden  fancy  urged  him  to  charter  a  small 
motor-launch  to  convey  him  to  the  far  end  of  the 
lake,  rather  than  to  take  train  or  steamer.  He 
ordered  a  slow  pace,  so  that  the  restful  soothe  of  the 
Lake  of  the  Four  Cantons  might  seep  into  him. 
Even  in  its  exploitation  for  the  tourist,  the  lake  is 
unspoiled — beautiful  in  the  serenity  of  its  western 
end,  majestic  in  the  wildness  of  its  headwaters,  a 
goddess  drowsing  in  the  couch  of  the  mountains. 
At  Fluelen  he  took  train  to  climb  tortuously  to  the 
grim  battlements  of  the  Gotthard ;  and,  avoiding  the 
prosaic  short-cut  of  the  tunnel,  set  out  to  walk  over 
the  pass  to  the  southern  gateway  of  Airolo,  so  as 
to  miss  nothing  of  the  glories  of  the  snow-peaks. 

By  night  he  was  resting  in  a  posting-inn  on  the 
heights  of  the  pass,  soothed,  humbled  by  the  majesty 
of  Nature  to  a  sense  of  the  littleness  of  human 
endeavor  and  the  fleeting  transitoriness  of  human 
passion.  Fifty  years  on,  he  and  Eve  and  Kerr- 
Dyce  would  be  resolved  into  dust  and  vapor;  but 
time  would  have  barely  flaked  away  the  outer  scales 
of  epidermis  from  the  flanks  of  the  Gotthard,  and 
the  Lake  of  the  Four  Cantons  would  drowse  to  the 
same  noonday  heat,  its  shores  unaltered  save  by  a 
few  yards  of  silt  at  the  mouth  of  a  stream,  a  few 
inches  of  erosion  from  the  rocks.  The  life  of  man 
on  earth  could  be  but  the  preface  to  the  great  book 
of  the  hereafter;  the  passions  of  earth  were  as  the 
momentary  joys  and  tears  of  children. 

Nor  did  he  hasten  his  journey  on  the  third  day. 
The  train  slid  down  from  the  nipping  air  of  the 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  297 

heights  by  Airolo  to  the  sun-blazed  valley  of  Bellin- 
zona,  its  white  roads  quivering  in  the  heat,  its  fer- 
tile fields  musical  with  the  tireless  chirp  of  the 
cicadas.  Then  to  Lugano,  where  the  clustering  red- 
brown  roofs  of  the  old  town  almost  arch  in  the 
narrow  streetways,  and  the  two  white  arms  which 
are  Paradiso  and  Castagnola  stretch  out  to  clasp  the 
azure  jewel  of  lake. 

He  lazed  away  the  heat  of  noontide  at  a  lakeside 
inn,  lunching  in  an  arbor  of  linden,  feeding  crumbs 
to  the  eager  fishes,  as  tame  as  robins  and  as  wary. 
By  slow  stages  he  took  the  balsam-scented  cliff-walk 
to  Gandria;  the  little  steamer  to  the  lake-end  of 
Porlezzo;  the  toy  railway  over  the  hills;  and  at 
evening  he  was  among  the  purple  shadows  of  the 
waters  of  Como.  The  last  rays  of  sun  were  tinting 
with  pearly-rose  the  white  villas  on  the  hill  of  Bella- 
gio.  The  square  sail  of  a  lake  boat  drooped  with 
the  stillness  of  dusk,  when  the  breeze  seeks  for 
home.  A  feeling  of  utter  peace  entered  into  his 
soul.  Here,  and  with  his  godmother  to  give  him 
counsel,  he  would  learn  the  way  by  which  he  might 
win  back  Eve. 


At  the  very  entrance  to  Miss  Glenistair's  hotel  the 
companion  met  him. 

She  was  gowned  in  black. 

"Oh,  why  didn't  you  come  before?"  she  cried 
tearfully. 

A  horrible  fear  gripped  at  his  heart,  and  the 
question  he  tried  to  utter  choked  in  his  throat. 

"I  wirelessed  for  you  on  Tuesday  morning!" 


298  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

He  remembered  that  he  had  left  no  address  at 
home. 

"And  now  she  is  dead — without  seeing  you!" 

"When?"  his  parched  lips  framed. 

"Last  night." 

"When  I  was  on  the  pass!" 

And  then,  quite  suddenly,  the  overstrained  nerves 
gave  way.  The  heart  stopped  beating.  He  stag- 
gered, and  fell  to  the  ground  an  inert,  crumpled 
heap. 


CHAPTER   IV 

THRUST  AND  COUNTER-THRUST 

A  week  later,  Warde  was  at  the  doorway  of 
Kerr-Dyce's  house  in  Ebury  Square.  A  tall,  sub- 
stantial house,  cheerful  with  the  unsullied  white- 
ness of  its  annual  spring  coating,  the  fresh  sun- 
blinds  of  pleated  tussore  silk,  and  the  bright  array 
of  hyacinth  and  tulip  in  the  window-boxes.  A 
widowed  sister  kept  house  for  the  politician  and 
made  of  it  a  home. 

"Yes,  sir,  Mr.  Kerr-Dyce  is  awaiting  you.  This 
way,  sir,"  the  butler  was  saying. 

The  study  was  typical  of  its  owner,  suggestive  of 
the  leisure  of  arrivedness  in  its  well-filled  shelves 
of  modern  books,  and  pleasantly  relieved  from  the 
somberness  of  oak  paneling  by  a  few  landscapes 
from  recent  academies  chosen  for  color  harmonies 
— "A  Spring  Morning  on  Capri,"  "At  the  Well, 
Biskra,"  and  "The  Lagoon  of  Sapphire."  A  post- 
impressionist,  picturing  in  bold  rhythm  of  paint  a 
scene  in  the  coulisses  of  the  opera,  stood  for  evi- 
dence of  Kerr-Dyce's  catholic  attitude  toward  art. 
The  desk  was  Spanish  inlaid,  prized  for  design  and 
antiquity  more  than  for  convenience,  and  its  ap- 
pointments conveyed  a  slightly  feminine  daintiness 
of  choice. 

299 


300  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

Kerr-Dyce  did  not  attempt  to  shake  hands — his 
attitude  suggested  that  one  did  not  do  that  kind  of 
thing  rather  than  the  avoidance  of  a  snub — but  he 
offered  a  formal  condolence :  "I  was  very  sorry  to 
hear  of  your  bereavement.  Extremely  sudden, 
was  it  not?" 

"Yes,  very  sudden,"  answered  Warde,  and  seating 
himself  in  the  leather  armchair  indicated  to  him,  he 
passed  on  at  once  to  the  matter  which  had  dictated 
this  interview :  "Do  you  understand  why  I  avoided 
meeting  you  ten  days  ago?" 

"I  gathered  that  you  wished  to  consider  the  ques- 
tion in  all  its  bearings,"  returned  the  politician.  His 
manner  was  more  formal  than  usual — not  con- 
strained so  much  as  reserved,  and  no  sign  showed 
of  any  feeling  of  wrongdoing  toward  his  adversary. 
He  might,  from  his  manner,  have  been  dealing  with 
a  debtor  reluctant  to  settle  an  obligation. 

"I  couldn't  trust  myself  to  meet  you,"  continued 
Warde  bluntly. 

Kerr-Dyce' s  eyebrows  elevated  fractionally,  as 
though  he  were  saying:  "Indeed?" 

A  drawer  of  the  desk  stood  slightly  open.  Warde 
pointed  to  it.  "You  won't  need  that  now,"  he  said. 

"I  keep  cigarettes  in  there,"  was  the  unperturbed 
answer. 

"Ten  days  ago,  you  might  have  needeci  a  more 
substantial  protector." 

"We  are  both  men  of  the  world,  I  hope.  It 
would  be  disagreeable  to  revert  to  methods  of  bar- 
barism. Crude — and  somewhat  childish." 

"That  phase  has  passed  with  me.  I  want  to  ap- 
peal to  you.  I'm  prepared  to  close  my  eyes  to  this 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  301 

indiscretion  on  the  part  of  my  wife.  To  forget  it, 
and  to  take  her  away  with  me  to  travel  round  the 
world." 

"And  if  your  wife  would  not  agree  to  that?" 
"I  want  your  help.  I  realize  the  sincerity  of  this 
passion.  I  neither  accuse  my  wife  of  deliberate 
deception  nor  you  of  deliberate  treachery.  Business 
matters  have  so  occupied  my  time  these  last  couple 
of  years  that  I've  not  been  able  to  give  to  my  wife 
the  companionship  she  needed.  She  has  been 
thrown  into  the  society  of  others.  She  has  been  at- 
tracted by  your  personality.  The  consequence  is  a 
natural  one,  and  I  am  equally  to  blame.  But  the 
affair  need  not  go  further.  If  you  break  now,  defi- 
nitely and  finally,  six  months  will  erase  it.  I  appeal 
to  your  sense  of  honor." 

"All  that  represents  only  your  own  viewpoint/' 
came  the  cold  reply.  "There  is  also  your  wife's — 
and  my  own.  This  is  no  affair  of  momentary  pas- 
sion. We  need  one  another.  Your  proposal  would 
make  three  people  miserable.  Your  wife  will  never 
come  back  to  you.  That's  certain.  Your  existence 
together  would  be  a  continual  conflict." 

Antagonism  roused  antagonism.  Warde,  seeing 
that  an  appeal  to  the  man's  better  feelings  was 
futile,  moved  to  a  more  resolute  line  of  attack: 
"Then  I  must  request  you  to  find  an  excuse  for  a 
journey  abroad.  You  might,  for  instance,  wish  to 
study  the  postal  system  in  Canada  or  Australia,  or 
confer  with  the  postal  authorities  in  the  Do- 
minions." 

"You  forget  that  the  House  is  in  full  session." 
"There  are  other  men  who  could  take  your  place." 


302  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"I  do  not  care  to  depute  my  work." 

"I  mean  permanently." 

"A  threat?" 

"A  warning." 

"In  other  words,  you  propose  to  make  an  open 
scandal  ?" 

"Yes,  and  to  force  your  resignation  from  the 
Cabinet." 

"Have  you  any  evidence — witnesses  and  so  on — 
to  make  good  a  divorce  suit  ?" 

"No.  I  don't  set  spies  on  my  wife's  movements. 
But  if  this  relationship  between  you  continues,  I 
shall  be  compelled  to  do  so." 

"We  can  save  you  that  trouble.  We  can  indicate 
the  necessary  evidence,  and  leave  your  suit  unde- 
fended." 

"Speak  for  yourself  and  not  for  my  wife !"  flamed 
Warde. 

"Very  well;  speaking  for  myself,  you  can  do  any- 
thing you  please.  It  won't  hurt  me.  I  am  not 
greatly  in  love  with  politics.  I  could  give  up  my 
Cabinet  post  to-morrow  without  any  special  regrets. 
If  you  care  to  have  it,  I  will  write  out  my  resigna- 
tion"— he  drew  a  sheet  of  note  paper  toward  him — • 
"and  give  the  letter  into  your  hands  to  post." 

Warde,  regarding  it  as  an  attempt  at  bluffing, 
answered:  "Do  so." 

With  the  casual  manner  of  one  writing  a  letter  of 
introduction  for  a  chance  acquaintance,  Kerr-Dyce 
scribbled  a  note,  addressed  an  envelope  to  the  Prime 
Minister,  stamped  it,  and  handed  the  envelope  un- 
sealed to  Warde. 

"That  makes  it  unnecessary  for  you  to  stir  up 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  803 

mud.  File  a  plain  suit  for  divorce,  name  me  as 
co-respondent,  and  the  case  will  go  through  unde- 
fended. After  the  decree  absolute,  I  shall  of  course 
marry  your  wife." 

"And  if  I  refuse  to  bring  an  action  for  divorce?" 

"That  would  scarcely  be  playing  the  game.  Your 
wife  and  I  would  continue  to  meet,  and  matters 
would  be  highly  uncomfortable  for  yourself  as  well 
as  for  her.  Why  not  be  a  sportsman?" 

"I  want  to  know,"  said  Warde  deliberately, 
"why  you  give  me  this  letter?" 

"Because  I  am  not  afraid  of  your  threat." 

"And  beyond  that?"  persisted  Warde. 

"Don't  you  see  the  consequences  for  yourself?" 

"Explain." 

"I'll  do  so.  I'll  be  quite  frank  with  you.  You 
may  remember  that  in  February  we  discussed  the 
question  of  the  sale  of  your  wireless  patents?" 

"Of  course." 

"And  that  you  allowed  yourself  to  get  angry  and 
let  loose  some  satirical  observations?  Satire  is  an 
expensive  luxury.  I  should  not  be  sorry  to  see  you 
pay  the  price  for  it.  You  must  be  ready  to  pass 
over  an  insult,  but  I  am  not.  A  different  standard 
of  conduct,  perhaps.  I  don't  set  mine  up  as  higher" 
— Kerr-Dyce  smiled  his  easy  smile  of  assured  posi- 
tion— "but  merely  as  different  to  yours.  I  don't 
close  my  eyes  to  an  insult." 

"You  mean  that,  in  revenge,  you  set  yourself  to 
seduce  my  wife?" 

"You  are  somewhat  crude.  No — the  attachment 
began  long  before,  while  you  were  away  in  Amer- 
ica." He  paused. 


304  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"Go  on." 

"You  know  already  what  my  opinion  is  regarding 
your  wireless  telephony.  Do  you  imagine  that  it 
was  your  arguments  that  persuaded  me  to  offer  a 
contract  ?" 

"No — political  expediency." 

"Partly.  You  see,  I  am  very  frank  with  you. 
But  there  was  a  more  important  reason.  I  thought 
it  might  be  a  useful  lesson  to  you  to  have  the  con- 
tract offered,  and  then  in  the  final  stage  to  have  it 
rejected  by  Parliament.  As  it  is,  I  know  that  the 
American  syndicate  are  very  sore  over  your  action 
in  not  voting  for  them.  They  would  never  reopen 
negotiations  with  you.  That  avenue  is  closed  to 
you.  The  future  of  your  company  is  now  depen- 
dent on  having  the  Government  contract  ratified  by 
Parliament.  That  is  the  situation  at  the  moment." 

"Public  opinion  demands  the  ratification." 

"Public  opinion  is  very  easily  turned  by  outside 
considerations.  Suppose  that  the  impression  spread 
about  that  I  offered  the  contract  to  your  company 
because  I  happened  to  be  in  love  with  your  wife?" 

Warde  felt  the  blood  pounding  through  his  arter- 
ies. Only  by  a  great  effort  of  self-control  could  he 
keep  himself  from  laying  violent  hands  on  Kerr- 
Dyce. 

The  latter  continued  with  his  calm  sketch  of  the 
situation :  "I  can  foresee  another  telegraph  scandal. 
Public  indignation  would  boil  over.  Your  contract 
would  be  torn  to  ribbons." 

"And  you  too!" 

"No.  I  should  quietly  resign  and  leave  the  matter 
to  be  fought  out  between  yourself  and  the  public. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  805 

And  that  is  why  I  haven't  the  slightest  fear  of  your 
threat.  Post  the  letter  to  the  Premier  as  soon  as 
you  wish." 

Warde  did  not  answer.  At  last  he  realized  the 
trap  that  had  been  set  for  him.  His  nine  years  of 
travail  and  his  promise  to  Paradine  were  to  be 
trampled  into  the  mud  of  the  sty  in  order  to  make 
a  holiday  of  revenge  for  Kerr-Dyce.  And  even 
then,  with  his  work  mangled,  he  might  be  no  nearer 
to  regaining  Eve.  He  saw  that  he  had  no  club  over 
the  politician.  The  letter  of  resignation  so  casually 
written  for  him  was  useless.  Kerr-Dyce  was  ready 
to  give  up  his  parliamentary  career  for  the  double 
gratification  of  revenge  on  the  husband  and  posses- 
sion of  the  wife.  It  was  no  daring  bluff  to  offer  his 
resignation,  but  merely  a  long-foreseen  move  in  a 
scheme  of  diabolical  sutlety. 

A  full  minute  passes  in  silence.  Kerr-Dyce,  sup- 
pressing a  slight  yawn,  looked  at  his  watch. 

He  resumed:  "I  think  you  will  have  realized 
why  it  is  inadvisable  to  stir  up  the  mud  of  an  open 
scandal.  Now  let  me  put  before  you  a  further  sug- 
gestion. When  you  cite  your  action  for  divorce, 
there  is  no  need  to  name  a  co-respondent.  A  case 
can  be  brought  against  an  unknown,  provided  that 
the  wife  admits  the  accusation.  If  you  were  to  take 
that  course,  the  contract  would  go  quietly  through 
Parliament,  receive  ratification,  and  the  arbitration 
on  the  amount  of  payment  to  your  company  would 
also  proceed  without  hitch.  It  would  be  the  most 
satisfactory  solution  for  all  three  of  us." 

"In  plain  words,  to  sell  my  wife  for  the  ratifica- 
tion of  the  contract!"  flamed  Warde. 


306  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

"Again  you  resort  to  crudities.  Your  wife  will 
follow  her  own  inclination  and  judgment.  She 
never  will  return  to  you  in  any  case.  You  might 
allow  yourself  the  consolation  of  seeing  your  con- 
tract concluded.  If  you  force  an  open  scandal,  you 
merely  lose  everything.  That's  the  cold  logic  of 
the  situation." 

A  momentary  vision  flashed  across  Warde's  mind. 
He  saw  a  desolate  stretch  of  sands  in  the  gray  of 
dawn.  To  one  hand,  a  tangle  of  sand-dunes  bound 
with  wiry  grass  and  topped  with  furze  in  which  the 
buds  gleamed  yellow  against  the  dark  green  of  the 
spiky  leaves.  To  the  other  hand,  the  sea,  misted, 
heaving  slightly  to  some  distant  swell,  lapping 
gently  against  the  sands  with  a  soft  hiss,  resting  yet 
restless.  Above,  a  sea-gull  circling  with  keen,  in- 
quisitive eyes.  He  and  his  second  waited.  The 
chug  of  a  motor-car  sounded  from  the  road  behind 
the  sand-dunes.  Kerr-Dyce  and  his  second  appeared 
through  the  tangle  of  dunes  and  furze.  A  doctor 
was  with  them.  .  .  .  And  then  another  scene  as 
swiftly  took  its  place.  The  hotel  at  Bellagio.  A 
darkened  room.  The  figure  of  Miss  Glenistair  lying 
under  her  shroud,  serene  in  her  last  sleep,  giving  to 
him  a  silent  message  that  the  passions  of  earth  were 
vanity  and  the  strivings  of  self  but  bubbles  on  the 
sea  of  time.  .  .  . 

He  rose  abruptly  from  his  chair. 

"And  your  conclusion?"  asked  Kerr-Dyce. 

"Rests  with  my  wife." 

With  that  he  left. 


CHAPTER   V 

THE  LAST  PLEADING 

An  April  breeze  danced  light-heartedly  through 
the  trim  streets  of  Belgravia.  The  noonday  sun 
smiled  down  paternally  from  a  sky  flecked  with 
shreds  of  finely  carded  wool.  In  the  squares,  the 
new-born  green  of  the  trees  had  the  sweet-shrill 
voice  of  larks  or  little  children,  and  the  pendants  of 
lilac  buds  whispered  softly  of  the  dawn  of  love. 
Sparrows,  Cockney-born,  chirped  loudly  of  their 
right  of  possession  as  they  foraged  for  nest  material. 
The  streets  were  bright  with  the  new  season's  col- 
ors in  frocks  and  hats — this  year  to  be  sparklingly 
vivid.  Spring  held  carnival. 

But  Warde's  thoughts  as  he  walked  from  Ebury 
Square  to  home  were  somber  and  autumnal.  He 
was  about  to  make  a  last  pleading  with  Eve,  and 
already  he  felt  its  hopelessness.  What  more  could 
he  offer  her  than  he  had  offered  already?  Miss 
Glenistair  might  have  been  ajble  to  show  him  the 
way  to  win  back  Eve ;  and  now  that  she  was  dead, 
he  felt  terribly  alone.  This  struggle  of  his  was  not 
as  the  fight  of  career.  Then,  he  had  been  pitted 
against  men  and  the  ways  of  men.  To-day,  he  had 
to  deal  with  a  woman  whose  springs  of  action  had 
always  remained  to  him  vaguely  mysterious,  and 

307 


308  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

whose  weakness  was  her  armor.  Kerr-Dyce's 
words  rankled  with  him:  "Your  proposal  would 
make  three  people  miserable."  Was  it  mere  selfish- 
ness that  was  driving  him  to  win  back  Eve — a  pas- 
sion fed  by  jealousy?  Had  he  the  right,  apart  from 
the  conventions  of  the  law,  to  try  to  force  her  in- 
clinations ? 

He  felt  weak  and  doubtful  of  himself — a  play- 
thing of  circumstances.  In  the  pursuance  of  his 
career,  there  had  been  the  drive  of  an  outside  force 
arming  him  with  resolution.  He  had  thrust  men 
aside  with  elbow  and  fist  because  he  had  been 
confident  of  the  Tightness  of  his  goal.  He  had  never 
doubted  the  ultimate  winning.  But  now,  there  was 
no  such  confidence  of  right-doing  to  spur  him  on. 

"The  mistress  is  in  the  boudoir,"  he  was  informed 
by  her  maid. 

He  found  Eve  among  the  cushions  of  a  window- 
seat,  smiling  at  her  two  children  playing  with  a 
doll's  house  on  the  floor.  There  was  a  tinge  of 
wist  fulness  in  her  smile,  as  though  she  were  looking 
into  the  future  to  the  coming  separation  from  them. 
The  mood  might  be  a  transitory  one,  but  it  moved 
him  to  compassion.  It  made  him  realize  the  inten- 
sity of  feeling  that  lay  in  her  passion  for  Kerr- 
Dyce. 

"I  have  been  to  Ebury  Square,"  he  said  softly. 

Betty  and  Mona  were  sent  upstairs  to  the  nursery 
before  further  word  passed  of  what  was  uppermost 
in  the  minds  of  husband  and  wife. 

"Then  you  have  tested  him?"  questioned  Eve. 

"Yes.    He  is  not  afraid  of  a  public  scandal." 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  309 

"I  knew  that,"  she  answered  with  a  note  of  glad- 
ness. 

"Because  such  a  scandal  would  wreck  the  pros- 
pects of  my  contract  with  the  Government.  People 
would  say  that  he  had  offered  the  contract  to  me  in 
the  first  instance  because  he  happened  to  be  in  love 
with  my  wife.  He  foresees  another  telegraph  scan- 
dal." 

"I'm  sorry,  Hilary."  Her  voice  softened.  "Be- 
lieve me,  I  never  thought  of  such  a  possibility. 
Your  contract  must  go  through.  There  must  be  no 
open  scandal." 

"I  see  only  one  way  to  avoid  it — give  over  this 
madness  of  passion,  thrust  it  aside,  and  return  to 
me.  Oh,  Eve,  my  dearest,  can't  you  bring  yourself 
to  love  me  a  little?  See,  I'm  pleading  with  you!  I 
would  be  very  patient.  I  would  wait  six  months,  a 
year.  I  will  go  away  and  leave  you  to  yourself,  if 
only  you  tell  me  that  you  will  sever  with  Kerr-Dyce. 
Just  that  one  promise,  and  I  will  leave  you  until  you 
call  me  to  return  home.  I  ask  for  nothing  more. 
I'm  in  your  hands — to  break  me,  or  to  give  me  hap- 
piness again.  I  have  no  other  argument  to  make — 
I'm  pleading!" 

"And  I  too!  I  can't  do  what  you  ask.  We 
should  both  be  miserable.  I  should  grow  to  hate 
you,  because  you  had  kept  me  from  the  one  man  I 
care  for  in  all  the  world.  And  you  would  grow  to 
hate  me.  How  can  man  and  woman  live  under  the 
same  roof  without  love  to  soften  the  angles?  Re- 
lease me,  Hilary — it  is  the  only  way  to  make  happi- 
ness for  either  of  us  in  the  future!  I  don't  ask 
you  to  sacrifice  your  contract.  I  promise  you  there 


310  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

will  be  no  open  scandal  yet  awhile.  Afterward, 
divorce  me  quietly." 

"It's  not  in  your  power  to  make  such  a  promise. 
We  are  living  on  the  edge  of  a  volcano.  Already 
people  may  be  suspecting  .  .  .  talking  .  .  .  Am  I 
to  lose  you  and  see  my  life-work  trampled  upon  in 
the  same  moment?" 

"You're  torturing  me  with  those  fears !"  she  cried 
passionately.  "I  can't  love  you  again,  and  no  ar- 
gument can  make  me !  What  you  call  love  for  me 
is  only  selfishness  in  disguise.  You  want  to  possess 
me.  I  loathe  the  thought  of  it.  I  can't  control  my 
feelings.  I  shall  be  counting  the  days  until  my  re- 
lease comes.  Let  me  soon  be  free,  Hilary — that's 
all  I  ask  from  you !"  Tears  were  in  her  voice. 

"At  the  moment  when  I'm  released  from  my 
promise  to  Sir  Wilmer,  and  can  devote  all  my 
thoughts  to  you  and  give  you  every  material  luxury 
you  could  ask  for!  These  three  hundred  thousand 
pounds  of  mine — they  were  to  be  yours.  I  was 
planning " 

A  discreet  knock  at  the  door  interrupted  him. 

"Come  in." 

It  was  the  maid.  "You're  wanted  on  the  tele- 
phone, sir." 

He  went  downstairs  to  the  study  and  took  up  the 
receiver.  "This  is  Mr.  Warde.  Who's  speak- 
ing?" 

The  voice  of  his  banker  answered  him:  "A 
check  has  just  been  presented  by  the  London  agents 
of  the  City  National  Bank,  New  York.  It  is  made 
out  by  you  in  favor  of  a  Mr.  Michael  Riordan,  and 
dated  a  fortnight  back." 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  311 

"Yes— that's  right." 

"The  amount  is  so  large  that  I  could  not  in  pru- 
dence undertake  to  honor  it  without  receiving  your 
instructions." 

"What  is  the  amount?" 

"Two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds." 

"No— dollars." 

"Pounds,  Mr.  Warde." 

"Then  the  check  is  fraudulent.  It  must  have 
been  'raised'." 

"One  moment,  please,  while  I  examine  it  with  a 
magnifying-glass." 

There  was  a  pause  of  a  full  minute.  The  banker's 
voice  resumed  cautiously :  "I  can  find  no  trace  of 
erasion.  The  word  dollars  would  have  to  be  in- 
serted instead  of  pounds — a  most  difficult  task  for 
a  forger — and  further,  there  is  the  evidence  of  the 
figures.  A  check  made  out  to  dollars  would  read 
250,000  and  a  nought  over  a  hundred;  this  reads 
250,000,  dash,  nought,  dash,  nought." 

"Find  me  an  expert  on  check- forging,  and  put  it 
into  his  hands  for  examination,"  ordered  Warde, 
but  in  his  heart  he  knew  that  it  was  a  useless  precau- 
tion. There  flashed  across  his  mind  the  scene  when 
he  had  written  that  fatal  check — inserting  the  date, 
then  turning  to  the  telephone  to  call  up  Kerr-Dyce, 
the  revelation  of  his  wife  making  an  appointment 
with  the  politician,  the  blind  fury  of  his  thoughts, 
and  his  filling  in  of  the  check  in  a  daze  of  emotion, 
scarcely  seeing  what  it  was  that  he  was  writing. 

In  mistake,  he  had  written  pounds  instead  of 
dollars.  He  had  given  himself  into  the  hands  of 
Riordan.  Undoubtedly  the  latter  would  press  home 


312  EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE 

his  advantage  to  the  utmost — either  force  payment 
of  the  full  amount  by  legal  action  or  drive  Warde 
into  the  bankruptcy  court.  It  would  take  away 
from  him  the  bulk  of  his  fortune. 

And  then  he  realized  the  full  bitterness  of  the 
blow.  He  had  counted  on  that  money  to  weigh  with 
Eve  in  her  final  decision.  With  it,  he  would  have 
been  able  to  provide  her  with  all  she  might  reason- 
ably ask  for.  Now,  he  was  by  comparison  a  poor 
man.  His  last  possible  straw  of  help  had  been 
snatched  away  from  him. 

It  was  a  half -hour  later  when  Eve  came  down  to 
the  study.  She  found  him  gray  and  haggard. 

"What's  been  detaining  you?"  she  asked. 

"I  have  been  thinking  over  the  matter  from  every 
aspect,"  he  answered  brokenly,  pushing  aside  the 
telephone  from  which  the  receiver  still  trailed.  "I 
have  decided  that  you  are  right.  You  must  be 
released  as  soon  as  possible." 

Joy  leaped  into  her  features. 

"But  I  have  also  to  consider  the  safety  of  the 
wireless  contract,"  he  continued.  "I  can't  risk  your 
name  being  associated  with  Kerr-Dyce's.  If  you 
are  lost  to  me,  the  fruit  of  my  life-work  must  re- 
main. So  I  have  decided  to  let  you  divorce  me.  It 
can  be  arranged  very  simply,  a  quarrel  in  front  of 
your  maid,  ending  in  my  laying  hands  on  you — the 
conventional  'cruelty' — and  some  woman  to  spend 
the  night  with  me  at  a  hotel." 

"And  the  children  ?  The  Court  would  give  them 
into  my  charge." 

"We  must  share  them." 

"It's  very  generous  of  you.  .  .  .    You're  a  good 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  813 

fellow,  Hilary,"  was  all  that  Eve  could  find  to  say. 

He  drew  letter-paper  toward  him. 

"Now  leave  me,"  he  asked. 

In  the  doorway  she  hesitated.  His  back  was 
toward  her,  bending  over  the  desk  as  he  penned  a 
letter. 

For  a  moment  she  paused  in  hesitation.  Then, 
firmly,  she  grasped  the  handle  of  the  door  and 

ssed'out  of  the  room. 


CHAPTER  VI 

FORWARD 

Saltness  Island.    A  morning  in  late  September. 

The  sun  is  bright,  but  its  energy  is  dulled  from 
the  dispersal  of  the  early  morning  mists.  There  is 
little  change  in  the  scene  from  seven  years  back. 
Those  sheep  star-scattered  over  the  salting  might 
be  the  very  same  sheep.  They  nibble  greedily,  ever 
pressing  onward  to  the  lure  of  apparently  lusher 
grass  a  few  feet  beyond  their  noses.  In  the  rear 
of  the  bungalow,  now  bought  over  by  Warde  and 
restored  from  its  deserted  aspect,  Amos  Bills  the 
shepherd  is  stolidly  engaged  in  the  process  of  the 
after-breakfast  household  duties.  Seven  years  have 
added  further  touches  of  white  to  his  hair,  but  in 
mind  he  is  the  same  Amos  Bills. 

Little  Betty  is  playing  with  a  wise  old  sheep-dog. 
Warde  watches  her  from  the  veranda  of  the  bunga- 
low, a  sheaf  of  scribbling-paper  lying  unheeded  on 
the  table  by  his  side.  He  is  dressed  in  an  easy 
Norfolk  suit  of  gray  tweed. 

The  big  change  is  in  Warde  himself — the  inner 
man. 

Gone  is  the  light-heartedness,  the  zest  of  work, 
the  fire  of  youthful  ambition  and  ideals.  He  has 
achieved  what  he  set  out  to  do.  That  dream  of 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  PRICE  315 

seven  years  back  has  become  a  reality.  The  con- 
tract with  the  Government  has  been  ratified  and 
signed ;  the  arbitration  as  to  payment  has  been  con- 
cluded ;  all  over  the  world  wireless  stations  are  being 
erected  to  knit  together  the  commerce,  the  gover- 
nance and  the  defense  of  the  Empire. 

Yet,  darkening  all  is  the  shadow  of  divorce.  In 
a  few  months'  time  the  decree  of  the  courts  will  be 
made  absolute.  Except  for  that  formality,  Eve  has 
passed  out  of  his  life.  And  with  her  has  departed 
something  of  himself  that  can  never  be  replaced. 

"What  does  it  profit  a  man  that  he  gain  the  whole 
world  and  lose  his  own  soul?" 

But  is  it  the  goal  of  man  to  make  happiness  for 
himself  ?  Is  it  not  a  finer  thing  to  attain  an  ideal ; 
to  wrest  out  the  secrets  of  nature  and  to  fight  down 
the  prejudice  and  foolishness  and  obstinacy  and 
envious  malice  of  fellow-man;  to  give  to  one's  coun- 
try a  life-work  that  will  endure? 

Those  are  the  thoughts  which  chase  through  his 
mind  on  this  September  morning.  He  has  achieved 
greatly,  and  in  the  achieving  has  sacrificed  his  own 
happiness.  Was  it  worth  while? 

With  a  sudden  resolution,  Warde  turns  to  his 
sheaf  of  scribbling-paper.  There  are  other  fields  to 
conquer,  other  uncharted  territories  of  nature  to  ex- 
plore. 

Yes,  it  was  worth  while !  It  was  good  work.  It 
will  live. 

Forward !    Like  the  restless  sea. 

THE  END 


Nine  Splendid  Novels  by 

WILLIAM  MacLEOD  RAINE 

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